The Path to Net Electricity for Magnetic Fusion

by

Dr. John Parmentola Senior Vice President Energy and Advanced Concepts
Presented at the

American Security Project Fusion Event

June 5, 2012

1

Worldwide Research Has Advanced Fusion to the Goal of Sustained Ignition

DEMO
ITER

Many orders of magnitude (a factor of one trillion) improvement have been achieved over 40 years Significant fusion power (> 10 MW) already demonstrated

ITER will demonstrate a 500 MW sustained fusion plasma

U.S. Domestic Program Provides Powerful Capabilities to Address Key ITER Issues
scale prototype of ITER Can reproduce ITER operating regimes Extensive diagnostics Extreme plasma shaping Large fraction of energetic particles

DIII-D

NSTX

High ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure

Together:
Develop physics solutions critical to ITER success Establish more robust performance scaling trends Provide a fuller physics picture through complementary measurement techniques

Alcator CMOD

ITER-level magnetic field Reactor relevant metal wall Reactor-like power density

U.S. Path to Net Electricity Requires Talented People and a New Facility
A gifted and talented workforce is required to support & exploit ITER

NSTX

FNSF

Power Plant

DIII-D

ITER
Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) challenges:
- High performance, steady-state operation
- Makes its own fuel

Alcator CMOD

- Materials for extreme environments

ITER Site Construction Progresses

Concrete Work for Tokamak Complex
Concrete Walls & Anti-Seismic Pit

PF Coil Winding Building

PF Coil Spreader Beam

Plan to Net Electricity

Success in ITER and FNSF would enable DEMO construction to begin in next decade!
6

Summary

U.S. investment over 40 years has led the world in realizing fusion energy ITER, the largest experiment in human history involving 6 nations (US, China, India, S. Korea, Japan and Russia) and the EU, is the next major step U.S. domestic program is essential in realizing the success of ITER and fusion energy in the next decade