News Release

Potential benefits of inertial fusion energy justify continued R&D

Potential benefits of inertial fusion energy justify continued R&D; nationally coordinated program should wait until ignition is achieved

Peer-Reviewed Publication

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

WASHINGTON -- The potential benefits of successful development of an inertial confinement fusion-based energy technology justify investment in fusion energy research and development as part of the long-term U.S. energy R&D portfolio, says a new report from the National Research Council. Although ignition of the fusion fuel has not yet been achieved, scientific and technological progress in inertial confinement fusion over the past decade has been substantial. Developing inertial fusion energy would require establishment of a national, coordinated, broad-based program, but achievement of ignition is a prerequisite.

"The realization of inertial fusion energy would be a tremendous achievement capable of satisfying the world's ever-growing need for power without major environmental consequences," said Ronald Davidson, professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory and co-chair of the committee that wrote the report. "These possibilities form an extremely compelling rationale to continue R&D efforts toward this goal."

Inertial fusion energy technology (IFE) would provide an essentially carbon-free energy source with a practically unlimited supply of fuel. IFE relies on a process in which a fuel pellet the size of a pinhead is compressed by an external energy source, raising the temperature and density enough that the nuclei of the some of the fuel atoms fuse together, releasing nuclear energy. The aim is ignition, in which the fusion energy produced by the initial compression causes the remaining fuel to undergo fusion.

"The fuel used in the fusion process is lithium and deuterium; deuterium is derived from water and therefore virtually unlimited," explained Gerald Kulcinski, associate dean for research and director of the Fusion Technical Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who served as co-chair of the report committee. "And unlike nuclear fission plants, it would not produce large amounts of high-level nuclear waste requiring long-term disposal. The potential is for a sustainable energy source that could power the Earth for millions of years."

U.S. research on inertial confinement fusion has been supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy. NNSA's objective is nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship, but much of the R&D is also applicable to IFE development. There are several external energy source or "driver" technologies under development: lasers, particle beams, and pulsed magnetic fields. NNSA's National Ignition Facility, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, recently completed a National Ignition Campaign aimed at achieving ignition. While much was learned in the process, ignition was not attained. In view of this result, the committee concluded that a range of driver technologies should continue to be pursued, rather than choosing a single technology at this time.

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The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.

Contacts:

Lorin Hancock, Media Relations Officer
Shaquanna Shields, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu

Additional resources:

Report in Brief

Companion Report

Pre-publication copies of An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
Board on Physics and Astronomy
Committee on the Prospects for Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy Systems

Ronald C. Davidson (co-chair)
Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, and
Emeritus Senior Astrophysicist
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton University
Princeton, N.J.

Gerald L. Kulcinski1 (co-chair)
Associate Dean for Research;
Grainger Professor of Nuclear Engineering; and
Director
Fusion Technology Institute
University of Wisconsin
Madison

Charles Baker
Independent Consultant
Albuquerque, N.M.

Roger Bangerter
Head of Fusion Energy Research
E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (retired)
Oregon City, Ore.

Riccardo Betti
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Astronomy, and
Co-Director
Fusion Science Center
University of Rochester
Rochester, N.Y.

Jan Beyea
Chief Scientist
Consulting in the Public Interest
Lambertville, N.J.
Robert L. Byer1,2
William R. Kenan Jr. Professor
Department of Applied Physics, and
Co-Director
Photonics Research Center
Stanford University
Stanford, Calif.

Franklin Chang Diaz
President
Ad Astra Rocket Co.
Webster, Texas

Steven C. Cowley
CEO
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority;
Head
EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association; and
Professor in Plasma Physics
Imperial College
London

Richard L. Garwin1,2,3
IBM Fellow Emeritus
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

David Hammer
Carlton Ward Professor of Nuclear Energy Engineering
Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y.

Jospeh S. Hezir
Managing Partner
EOP Group Inc.
Washington, D.C.

Kathryn McCarthy
Director
Nuclear Science and Engineering
Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho Falls

Lawrence T. Papay1
CEO and Principal
PQR LLC
La Jolla, Calif.

Ken Schultz
Project Manager
General Atomics (retired)
Leucadia, Calif.

Andrew M. Sessler 2
Director Emeritus and Distinguished Emeritus Scientist
E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Berkeley, Calif.

John Sheffield
Senior Fellow
University of Tennessee
Knoxville

Thomas Anthony Tombrello Jr.
William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena

Dennis G. Whyte
Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge

Jonathan S. Wurtele
Professor
Department of Physics
University of California
Berkeley

Rosa Yang
Vice President, Innovation
Electric Power Research Institute Inc.
Palo Alto, Calif.

STAFF

David Lang
Study Director

1 Member, National Academy of Engineering

2 Member, National Academy of Sciences

3 Member, Institute of Medicine


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