A Long Road for Fusion
William Reville, a Professor at University College Cork in Ireland, published an interesting article in the Irish Times, detailing the hurdles that fusion energy will have to overcome to be commercialized. He clearly articulates the current situation for fusion and the pathway forward for the next several decades. However, he takes a particularly pessimistic view of the timeline for full-scale commercialization.
Iter will test the feasibility of a sustained fusion reaction and will then become a test nuclear fusion power plant. Following several delays it is hoped to build Iter by 2020, after which about 1,000 scientists and engineers will work on the device for 20 years. If Iter works, a demonstration reactor with all the functions of a power plant will be built by 2050 and tested for 10 to 20 years. Finally, it may be possible to start up full-scale nuclear fusion worldwide by 2100, but many things could lengthen this timeline. Fusion technology emits no warming CO2 gas but nuclear fusion will not be available to mitigate the effects of global warming this century.
Here at ASP, we believe that delays in the development of fusion energy is not because the science is insurmountable, but because fusion has not been recognized as a policy priority. Funding for R&D has often been too modest, which pushes the date at which fusion becomes a commercial reality further off into the future.
Nonetheless, the article is a good read. To read the full article, click here.
