Fusion Energy, Fusion Energy Consortium
Issues in science and technology Summer 2015 by Robert L. Hirsch The inherent limitations of the tokamak design for fusion power will prevent it from becoming commercially viable, but the lessons from this effort can inform future research. Burning wood was an important source of energy for early humankind, because it had no competition, no … Read more
MIT Technology review By Richard Martin on September 14, 2015 The focus of research on fusion power has moved from big government programs to startups with novel designs. WHY IT MATTERS If it’s ever harnessed, fusion could provide an essentially limitless source of zero-carbon energy. After three decades of expensive government-funded research that has failed … Read more
IAEA By Aabha Dixit Sept.15, 2015 Participants at the side event on latest advances in research and development in fusion technology. (Photo: J. C. Castillo/IAEA) Scientists are becoming increasingly excited about the prospects that within the foreseeable future a reactor can replicate the sun’s energy source on Earth through scientific and technological innovation of a … Read more
MIT news School of Engineering September 9, 2015 Whyte succeeds Richard Lester as NSE department head. Dennis Whyte Photo: Susan Young Dennis Whyte, professor of nuclear science and engineering and director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, has been named the new head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), effective Sept. … Read more
Orange County Register Sept. 8, 2015 By AARON ORLOWSKI Michl Binderbauer, vice president, left, and Toshiki Tajima, chief science officer, show how they say their company has advanced one small step closer to building a machine that would create a near-limitless supply of energy in the same way that the sun does: by fusing the … Read more
RTCC By Alex Pashley 9 September 2015 Venture capitalists take on establishment with experimental device, but are optimistic time frames damaging race? CEO David Kingham with stage two device of Tokamak’s bid to claim fusion energy. (Credit: AlexPashley) Doughnut-shaped and like a cored apple, could a pint-sized nuclear reactor recreate the sun on Earth? A … Read more
PPPL By Raphael Rosen August 3, 2015 Elena Belova (Photo by Elle Starkman) Creating controlled fusion energy entails many challenges, but one of the most basic is heating plasma – hot gas composed of electrons and charged atoms – to extremely high temperatures and then maintaining those temperatures. Now scientist Elena Belova of the U.S. … Read more
Huffington Post 09/02/2015 By Don Willlmott Nuclear fusion is considered by many to be the holy grail of clean energy — a technology that would transform the world, if only we could figure out how to do it. But harnessing the same process that powers our sun is no small task. Superhot plasma must be … Read more
me engineers SEPTEMBER 4, 2015 PATRICK LANDY The rewards of creating a functional nuclear fusion reactor will be enormous. Such a device will generate safe, emission-free energy using fuel derived from water and lithium. This opportunity has intrigued and stumped scientists worldwide for nearly a century, and for good reason. The conditions needed to sustain … Read more
CCFE | 03/09/2015 Plasma turbulence has been the bane of fusion scientists for decades. But now they’re getting their own back – images of plasma inside the MAST tokamak at Culham are showing how turbulence could actually tackle one of the hottest issues in fusion reactor design. Plasma is a fascinating but frustrating fact of … Read more