Tokamaks, Stellarators, Laser-Based and Alternative Concepts: The Report Provides Global Perspectives on Nuclear Fusion Devices

The new report dedicates a chapter to each specific model type, providing information such as name, status, owner, host country, and organization, as well as a brief description of the objectives and key device characteristics. It also provides statistics on publications, funding, and other metrics that provide a comprehensive overview of integration efforts around the world.

For example, tokamaks and stellarators are the most popular devices on which most of the current research is focused. These toroidal devices are equipped with large magnets that control the motion of plasma – gas that is charged and heated to an extremely high temperature – as fusion takes place. The report indicates that more than 50 tokamak and more than 10 stars are in service around the world. In France, 35 countries are involved in the construction of the world’s largest tokamak: ITER.

Another method is to use inertial fusion, a technique that uses a high-energy laser (or other means) to heat and compress small spherical capsules containing fuel pellets. Last December, this method enabled researchers at the United States National Ignition Facility (NIF) to make a major breakthrough in fusion research, producing approximately 3.15 megajoules (MJ) of energy from the 2.05 megajoules provided by 192 laser beams. “This year we have achieved a major milestone in the areas of plasma burning, fusion initiation and invested energy production further; it is impressive,” said Omar Isar, Senior Scientist of the Autoentrapment Fusion Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA).

The report also presents alternatives that scientists continue to work on to produce fusion. These consist, for example, in the collision of two beams of ions generated by particle accelerators, or the fusion that takes place at the point of collision, or in an experiment with fuels other than hydrogen isotopes, such as those based on a mixture of proton and boron 11.

To demonstrate the ability of fusion to generate electricity, significant efforts are being made, including private sector investment, to design and build experimental fusion-based power plants (DEMOs). A chapter of the report is also devoted to 12 DEMOs that are in various stages of implementation around the world, with different projected completion dates over the next three decades. “We’ve made huge progress in understanding fusion and the science behind it, but there’s still a long way to go before it becomes an efficient source of electricity,” says Barbarino.

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