Other Obstacles to Fusion Power after ITER
Science has a good article on Europe’s fusion energy roadmap. As mentioned in a previous post, the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) published its roadmap to commercialized fusion energy, which it envisions coming online by 2050. The article in Science discusses some of the further hurdles facing fusion after ITER, which is central to Europe’s plan for fusion energy. Some of the problems include the diverter, which will need to withstand extreme temperatures, as well as plasma-materials interface. From the article:
Another big unknown is what material to use for the structure and lining of DEMO’s plasma vessel and other plasma-facing components. Fusion produces high-energy neutrons and the bombardment from DEMO will be intense. The neutrons knock atoms in solids out of position, weakening them and making them radioactive. Research is needed to find materials that can stand up to decades of sustained neutron bombardment, but there is no existing neutron source intense enough to test them. A design for an accelerator-based neutron source is being developed as an adjunct to the ITER project, but EFDA thinks something is needed sooner.
To read the full article, click here.
