Role of Fusion Energy in a Sustainable Global Energy Strategy

Fusion energy is one of only a few truly long-term energy options. Since its inception in the 1950s, the vision of the fusion energy research program has been to develop a viable means of harnessing the virtually unlimited energy stored in the nuclei of light atoms--the primary fuel deuterium is present as one part in 6,500 of all hydrogen. This vision grew out of the recognition that the immense power radiated by the sun is fueled by nuclear fusion in its hot core. Such high temperatures are a prerequisite for driving significant fusion reactions. The fascinating fourth state of matter at high temperatures is known as plasma. It is only in this fourth state of matter that the nuclei of two light atoms can fuse, releasing the excess energy that was needed to separately bind each of the original two nuclei. Because the nuclei of atoms carry a net positive electric charge, they repel each other. Hydrogenic nuclei, such as deuterium and tritium, must be heated to approximately 100 million degrees Celsius to overcome this electric repulsion and fuse. There have been dramatic recent advances in both the scientific understanding of fusion plasmas and in the generation of fusion power in the laboratory. Today, there is little doubt that fusion energy production is feasible. For this reason, the general thrust of fusion research has focused on configuration improvements leading to an economically competitive product. The risk of conflicts arising from energy shortages and supply cutoffs, as well as the risk of severe environmental impacts from existing methods of energy production, are among the reasons to pursue these opportunities [1]. In this paper we review the tremendous scientific progress in fusion during the last 10 years. We utilize the detailed engineering design activities of burning plasma experiments as well as conceptual fusion power plant studies to describe our visions of attractive fusion power plants. We use these studies to compare technical requirements of an attractive fusion system with present achievements to identify remaining technical challenges for fusion. We discuss scenarios for fusion energy deployment in the energy market