Nuclear Fusion Power

The Energy of the Future?

Past, Present, and Future

• What is nuclear fusion?

• How was it discovered?

• What is being done with it today?

• What career opportunities are there involving fusion?

What is nuclear fusion?

• Stellar nuclear fusion 4H →He– Stellar plasmas have a slightly complicated 3-step fusion

process that varies on the size of the star

• Nuclear fusion power uses Deuterium and Tritium isotopes of H

•T+D →He + n at temperatures of over 100 million K

•D is readily available•T is unstable and decays quickly, processed from Lithium

How was it discovered

• In 1951, German scientists in Argentina made unsubstantiated claims of producing controlled fusion

• Fusion was initially a weapon• Edward Teller championed the idea of the

thermonuclear superbomb (Hydrogen bomb) utilizing fusion– Soviet and US research almost 100% devoted to

weapons development

ITER

• Started internationally the late 1980’s to develop peaceful fusion power

• In 2001 designs for the facility were completed

• In 2005 Cadarache, France was picked as the build site

• Currently the management of the project has been established– Construction is bogged down

in international politics– USA left the project in 1999

and rejoined in 2003

ITER goals

• Achieve 5-10x energy yield• Begin construction next year• First plasma by 2016• Testing key technologies and

techniques for fusion• Develop Tritium breeding

methods from lithium compounds

• Will only run at 1/6th of power output level of future power plants

ITER support and opportunity

• “$12 billion gamble”– Criticized for being such a

large investment for an unproven method

– Some alternative energy advocates say the money could be better spent

• Funded by USA, China, India, Russia, Korea, and EU

• Sign up today: submit your CV

Cold Fusion

• In 1989 two scientists claimed they achieved fusion at room temperature– Discredited when results

couldn’t be reproduced

•Last year, three UCLA physicists (above) developed easily reproducible cold fusion

•Too small scale to ever be used as an energy source

Plasma Physics

• Gateway to cutting edge fusion work is plasma physics

• Top programs– Princeton’s National

Plasma Physics Lab– Funded by US Dept of

Energy, tied with Princeton’s graduate program

– UCLA has a Tokamak fusion reactor

– MIT and UT Austin also highly acclaimed

Career options in fusion

• Research and Development– Get a PhD in plasma physics and

research at one of several international sites

• ITER, CERN, PPPL, UCLA

• Lobbyist for science– Usually PhD scientists who

become politically active– Important on a national and

international level to secure funding needed to make breakthroughs