Fusion News

BostonCommons.net When the head of the Atomic Energy Commission at the time, Lewis Strauss, infamously quipped in 1954 that electricity would become “too cheap to meter,” he was likely referring to nuclear fusion, not nuclear fission, the atom-splitting reaction that powers conventional nuclear power plants today. [1] I think that nuclear fission plant should be … Read more

UK Independent An idyllic hilltop setting in the Cadarache forest of Provence in the south of France has become the site of an ambitious attempt to harness the nuclear power of the sun and stars. It is the place where 34 nations representing more than half the world’s population have joined forces in the biggest … Read more

At Scienceogram, we’re used to looking at massive numbers in the context of government spending. However, this week the most talked-about figure has come from the world of commerce: Apple’s record-breaking profits. The firm announced that the popularity of the iPhone 6 had contributed to quarterly profits of $18bn, or around £12bn, the largest ever … Read more

ITER 06 March 2015 “We are now entering into manufacturing and preparations for assembly,” says Bernard Bigot. “This new phase requires a new organization—one tailored to meet these two major challenges, because what we have to deliver now is both a research and an industrial facility.” © L.Godart/CEA An academic, scientist and high-level civil servant … Read more

E&T Magazine 6 March 2015 By Tereza Pultarova French nuclear energy expert Bernard Bigot was appointed ITER’s new Director General [Credit: ITER] French nuclear energy expert Bernard Bigot has been appointed the new Director General of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) as the project moves from the design to construction phase after years of … Read more

TokamakTales by Ailsa Sparkes, Friday, 27 February 2015 When some of the graduates went to the KIT summer school on Fusion technologies last year (see blog post here), David Ward from CCFE gave a talk entitled ‘Future Energy and the Role for Fusion’. As well as leading CCFE’s Power Plant Technology Unit, David works at … Read more

With its promise of virtually unlimited clean energy, nuclear fusion has long been a goal of physicists. With the enormous ITER experimental reactor under construction in the south of France, Antony Funnell takes a look at the feasibility of replicating the Sun here on Earth. ABC Future Tense Wednesday 25 February 2015 Antony Funnell IMAGE: … Read more

Paris Tech February 23rd, 2015 Rising energy consumption round the world, rarefaction of fossil energy sources, climate change, the necessary reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions… The development of new and renewable energy sectors, emitting few or zero GHGs has become primordial. Faced with this inevitable energy transition phase, nuclear fusion could be justified, provided … Read more

physicsworld.com Feb 16, 2015 Hot topic: size may not be everything in tokamak design Researchers from the UK firm Tokamak Energy say that future fusion reactors could be made much smaller than previously envisaged – yet still deliver the same energy output. That claim is based on calculations showing that the fusion power gain – … Read more

AIP Scitation Steven T. Corneliussen, October 2014 “The old promise of atoms for peace was a noble one, but ultimately flawed because the technology wasn’t right for it,” declares Thomas McGuire in a 4-minute public relations video. He leads a fusion energy project at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, famous for originating, among other things, the … Read more