![]() Although the probability of these companies meeting their ambitious goals should not be overstated, they are using the insights generated by JET to improve on the formula in a number of ways, such as using high-end magnets. Nevertheless, some private companies, such as Commonwealth Fusion Systems, are promising a working power plant before 2040. However, according to the generally accepted timetable for this pathway, fusion energy will not be on the grid until long after 2050, too late for the green transition. Once results are in, ITER is to be followed by a prototype plant with a capacity of 1 GW – powerful enough to cover half of Berlin’s electricity consumption in 2022 – to demonstrate operational viability. The EU is funding 45 % of the project, which is set to produce its first plasma in 2025 and start full operation in 2035. A next generation facility – the result of an international cooperation project called ITER – is being built in southern France. Nuclear fusion research has so far relied on purpose-built, state-funded research facilities such as JET and NIF. ![]() US researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) use inertial confinement, and in 2022, for the first time, they achieved ignition: a net energy gain from a fusion reaction, though not nearly enough to account for the electricity demand of operating their equipment. While most approaches use magnetic confinement and a mixture of two fuels – deuterium and tritium – there are numerous variations in fuels and confinement methods. However, heating the plasma and keeping it confined in the reactor requires energy-intensive magnets, or lasers, that use a great deal more energy than the fusion reaction generated. In facilities like the Joint European Torus ( JET) near Oxford, scientists are able to heat up plasma to the necessary temperatures, 10 times as hot as the core of the sun. Research into such civilian use cases has been ongoing since the 1950s. When harnessed in a controlled reaction, fusion power can provide low‑carbon electricity. The physics are known and the fuel is readily available. This process is the power source behind both the sun and the hydrogen bomb. The basic function of a nuclear fusion reactor is to combine two hydrogen nuclei into a single helium nucleus with slightly less mass then the sum of the two original nuclei. ![]() However, even once the considerable engineering challenges of designing a fusion power plant are overcome, there are major constraints inherent in upscaling fusion power. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the sun and it can be reproduced on Earth. If it is to achieve the Paris Agreement objective of keeping the rise in global temperature well below 2° C, the EU must consider every possible technology to decarbonise energy production. Written by Antonio Vale with Clemens Weichert. ![]()
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