World’s biggest nuclear fusion reactor opens in huge boost for ‘holy grail’ of clean energy
Anthony Cuthbertson
Wed, 6 December 2023
The world’s biggest nuclear fusion reactor has begun operations in Japan, marking a major milestone towards achieving the “holy grail” of clean energy.
The experimental JT-60SA reactor in Japan’s Ibaraki Prefecture offers the best opportunity yet to test nuclear fusion as a sustainable and near limitless power source.
Harnessing the same natural reactions found within the sun, nuclear fusion requires no fossil fuels and leaves behind no hazardous waste.
The JT-60SA reactor is a joint project between the European Union and Japan, aiming to investigate the feasibility of the next-generation energy source.
“The generation of fusion energy does not produce carbon dioxide – making it an important technology in the path to net zero emissions,” the European Union’s directorate-general for energy said in a press release.
“The fusion reaction is intrinsically safe: it stops when the fuel supply or power source is shut down. It generates no high-level long-lived radioactive waste. Because of these characteristics, fusion qualifies as one of the next-generation energy sources that simultaneously addresses energy supply and environmental challenges.”
Since it was first conceived of by physicists in the 1950s, nuclear fusion has challenged scientists around the world. Major breakthroughs in recent years have reignited hope that it can be realised at scale within the next decade.
The opening of the JT-60SA reactor comes just one year after scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved a net energy gain with nuclear fusion for the first time.
The scientists used lasers to fuse two light atoms into a single one, releasing 3.15MJ (megajoules) of energy from 2.05MJ of input – roughly enough to boil a kettle.
The JT-60SA is the world’s biggest nuclear fusion reactor constructed to date (National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology)
The same team were able to repeat the experiment earlier this year, achieving an even greater net energy gain than the first time.
Physicist Arthur Turrell, who was not involved in the research, described the achievement of nuclear fusion ignition as “a moment of history” that could define a new era of energy.
“Controlling the power source of the stars is the greatest technological challenge humanity has ever undertaken,” he said. “This experimental result will electrify efforts to eventually power the planet with nuclear fusion – at a time when we’ve never needed a plentiful source of carbon-free energy more.”
One of the main objectives for the newly opened reactor, which measures six stories in height, is to replicate the feat of producing a net surplus of energy.
An even bigger nuclear fusion reactor is currently under construction in France, and is expected to begin operations in 2025.
Darrell Proctor
Tue, 5 December 2023
POWER Magazine
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said the U.S. is ready to work with other governments on research and development of nuclear fusion, as part of efforts to produce more carbon-free energy and combat climate change. Kerry made the announcement Dec. 5 at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Fusion has long been considered a “holy grail” of energy, able to produce what scientists consider a near-limitless supply of electricity without carbon emissions. Fusion is the process of two or more atomic nuclei being fused together to form a single, heavier nucleus that releases energy, which then can be used to generate electricity. As an example of its energy, fusion is what powers the sun and the stars. “We are edging ever-closer to a fusion-powered reality. And at the same time, yes, significant scientific and engineering challenges exist,” said Kerry. “Careful thought and thoughtful policy is going to be critical to navigate this.” It was one year ago, on Dec. 5, 2022, that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology. They achieved what’s known as “ignition,” in which more energy is produced from a fusion reaction that was needed to make the reaction occur. The experiment, using lasers, took place at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, home to the world’s largest laser fusion facility. Kerry, among those representing the U.S. government at the Dubai event sponsored by the United Nations, already has called for countries worldwide to end construction of new coal-fired power plants in an effort to limit global warming. On Tuesday, speaking at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum as part of COP28, Kerry said governments must work together to “harness the power of fundamental physics and human ingenuity in response to a crisis.” The new fusion program comes after the Biden administration in March 2022 announced a strategy to support U.S.-based fusion research. “The United States was proud to announce its bold decadal vision for commercial fusion energy last year … but, it is clear we cannot realize this grand ambition—perhaps not at all but certainly not at the pace we need to—doing it alone,” Kerry said.
Areas of Cooperation
Kerry said the plan to support nuclear fusion includes at least five areas where international partnerships could be forged: research, supply chain and future marketplace, regulation, workforce issues, and public engagement. Tuesday’s announcement comes after the U.S. and UK last month announced a partnership to accelerate global fusion energy development. The U.S. and nearly three dozen other groups also continue to collaborate on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, project in France, an oft-delayed endeavor to prove the viability of fusion. Japan and the European Union (EU), meanwhile, on Dec. 1 said the groups have begun operating the what is considered the world’s biggest and most advanced tokamak-type fusion reactor. The JT-60SA, located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, is among three fusion-related projects being developed by Japan and the EU. A tokamak is a donut-shaped machine that uses powerful magnets to confine and insulate a plasma, a process that makes the plasma hot enough to produce and sustain a fusion reaction. Michl Binderbauer, CEO of California-based TAE Technologies, a fusion science and engineering group, in an email Tuesday to POWER said, “Today, TAE Technologies is celebrating the White House and the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate’s support for fusion energy as a new clean energy source of the near future. As the first private fusion company, TAE represents a significant portion of the industry’s investment and is proud to be a leader in fusion’s promise of inexhaustible carbon-free energy. “Thanks to our company’s unique approach using the safest and most sustainable fuel, hydrogen-boron, on the order of just 1% of today’s current boron production could power enough fusion energy to meet the world’s electricity needs. Deployed at scale, this would allow everyone access to affordable, reliable power without damaging the environment or contributing to geopolitical conflict,” said Binderbauer. Binderbauer noted his company also is working with Japan on research and development for fusion. “We’ve intentionally pursued international partnership in our development of this approach, including our work with Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science, with whom we reached a scientific breakthrough on hydrogen-boron in magnetic confinement earlier this year,” said Binderbauer. “Building upon the recent success of landmark bills passed in both North Carolina and TAE’s home state of California to enshrine fusion power into the states’ regulatory framework, this announcement signals continued momentum and global collaboration for onboarding fusion as a viable and necessary part of our global energy mix.”
Fission-Based Reactors
Most of today’s nuclear power comes from nuclear fission reactors. Atoms are split in those reactors, which produces energy but also radioactive waste. The global nuclear power industry on Dec. 3 launched an initiative at COP28 in which more than 20 nations pledged to triple fission-based nuclear energy by 2050. Fusion does not produce radioactive waste, which along with its energy potential has driven research into the technology. The Fusion Industry Association (FIA) has said more than $6 billion has been invested in fusion research, with more than 40 companies worldwide working on fusion—most of those in the U.S. The group said about a third of those companies were launched over the past two years. The FIA in July of this year said it had identified 19 companies that have said they could deliver fusion-produced energy to the power grid by 2035.
Workers, foreground, stand Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in an area that features a life-sized representation, behind, of a device that will use magnets to create the conditions for fusion to happen, at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak. Nuclear fusion, which would be a new source of carbon-free energy, melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy.
Alex Creely, head of Tokamak operations, walks past a life-sized representation, right, of a device that will use magnets to create the conditions for fusion to happen, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass.
Updated Tue, 5 December 2023
The United States will work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry said Tuesday, the latest of many U.S. announcements the last week aimed at combatting climate change.
Nuclear fusion melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy—which could be used to power cars, heat and cool homes and other things that currently are often powered by fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. That makes fusion a potentially major solution to climate change, which is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Still, fusion is a long way off, while other clean technologies like wind, solar and others are currently in use and could be increased.
“We are edging ever-closer to a fusion-powered reality. And at the same time, yes, significant scientific and engineering challenges exist,” Kerry said, in Dubai for U.N. climate talks. “Careful thought and thoughtful policy is going to be critical to navigate this.”
Researchers have been trying for decades to harness the reaction that powers the sun and other stars — an elusive goal because it requires such high temperatures and pressures that it easily fizzles out.
Kerry wants to speed that up in hopes of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, a benchmark set by the international community. He urged nations to come together to “harness the power of fundamental physics and human ingenuity in response to a crisis.” The strategy lays out five areas for international partnerships: research, the supply chain and future marketplace, regulation, workforce issues and public engagement. Kerry spoke at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum.
The United States and United Kingdom announced a partnership in November to accelerate global fusion energy development, and the United States announced its own vision last year for research needed over the decade. In southern France, 35 nations are collaborating on an experimental machine to harness fusion energy, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale, carbon-free source of energy. That project has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. On Friday, Japan and Europe said they were launching the world's largest fusion reactor.
Both China and Russia are partners in ITER, and China in particular is moving aggressively to promote fusion research and development, said Andrew Holland, chief executive officer of the Fusion Industry Association.
"We're trying to build a global posse to get there before the Chinese so the Chinese don't dominate another new technology," he said.
Before he left for Dubai, Kerry put on a hardhat and toured Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Devens, Massachusetts, a company racing to design, build and deploy fusion power plants.
Until now, all nuclear power has come from nuclear fission reactors in which atoms are split — a process that produces both energy and radioactive waste. The global nuclear industry launched an initiative at COP28 for nations to pledge to triple this kind of nuclear energy by 2050. More than 20 have already signed on, including the United States and the host of this year's talks, the United Arab Emirates.
Fusion doesn’t produce the radioactive waste of nuclear fission. In a global race to make it a practical and possibly limitless power source, more than $6 billion has been invested to date, according to the Fusion Industry Association. There are more than 40 fusion companies globally now with over 80% of the investment in the United States. Thirteen of the companies emerged in just the past year and a half.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems has raised the most, more than $2 billion, according to the association.
Like the 35-nation effort, Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak. The doughnut-shaped machine uses powerful magnets to confine and insulate a plasma so it's hot enough for the fusion reaction to occur and stays hot longer.
A year ago, in a major breakthrough that used a different technology at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, scientists for the first time were able to engineer a reaction that produced more power than was used to ignite it, called net energy gain. Their process uses lasers.
Physicists around the world view the doughnut-shaped machines as the most promising kind of magnetic fusion device.
Tokamaks have been getting bigger in size for better performance. Commonwealth Fusion was founded in 2018 by researchers and students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Using breakthroughs in superconducting magnet technology combined with science from their own compact tokamak, the MIT group set out to build a magnet tolerant of high temperatures that could achieve really strong magnetic fields, using little electricity.
Their hope is to build a smaller, less expensive unit more rapidly, to make fusion commercially viable for the first time, said Professor Dennis Whyte, a co-founder of Commonwealth who leads the Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
“If fusion becomes economically competitive, we've solved energy for humanity forever, forever. It's like, of course you go after that," he said in an interview. “The compulsion that’s coming both from climate change and from energy security means it sure seems this is the right time to make the big push to get there.”
The company and the university collaborate closely. In 2021, they turned on their superconducting electromagnet and demonstrated a record-breaking magnetic field, making it the strongest fusion magnet of its kind. Whyte said he knew then fusion had changed forever.
But despite the hype, reliable and cheap nuclear fusion energy is still a pipe dream, said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety for the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. Fusion is far less likely than other alternatives to be commercialized on a timeframe that would allow it to help prevent the worst effects of climate change, he said. Lyman said the enormous price tag could also rob more promising alternatives, such as renewable energy, of resources they need to thrive,
Yet 19 fusion companies think they will deliver power to the grid before 2035, the Fusion Industry Association said in July.
Commonwealth is designing its first power plant, which it's calling “ARC,” to connect to the grid in the early 2030s.
ARC is intended to make roughly 460 megawatts of electricity. About 60 of those would be used to run the plant, for a net output of about 400 megawatts, enough to power tens of thousands of homes. It's projected to cost roughly $1 billion to $2 billion, according to the company, and fit on a space the size of a basketball court.
Before that, Commonwealth says it will build and test a prototype tokamak it calls SPARC, hoping to turn that on in late 2025 or early 2026.
CEO Bob Mumgaard said he thinks clean energy from fusion can decarbonize heavy industries that are big emitters of greenhouse gases.
“That’s our future play, it’s the really hard stuff, the stuff that gets you to zero," he said in an interview.
Along the walls at Commonwealth runs a pattern of white dots at hip level, one for each of the 10,000 fusion power plants they think the world will need by 2050. Mumgaard said it's a daily reminder the world uses a lot of energy, most of it from fossil fuels, and that has to change.
___
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A magnet test engineer checks fluid levels in a testing device at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak. Nuclear fusion, which would be a new source of carbon-free energy, melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy.
John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, speaks about nuclear fusion at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Bob Mumgaard, CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, stands for a photograph near a magnet insulation wrapping machine at their facility, in Devens, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak.
People stand near a magnet insulation wrapping machine at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak.
A magnet test engineer checks fluid levels in a testing device at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.
Jim O'Neill, of Salem, N.H., a senior safety manager, pulls a lever as he prepares to operate a crane Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, in Devens, Mass. Commonwealth is trying to create fusion inside what's called a tokamak. Nuclear fusion, which would be a new source of carbon-free energy, melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy.
DOE announces $42 million for inertial fusion energy hubs
Funding supports three hubs to build on DOE’s groundbreaking work in fusion, including last year’s successful ignition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $42 million for a program that will establish multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary hubs to advance foundational inertial fusion energy (IFE) science and technology, building on the groundbreaking work of the Department’s researchers into harnessing the power of the sun and stars. The hubs will be led by researchers at Colorado State University, the University of Rochester, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where last year a team successfully achieved fusion ignition for the first time, proving that creating energy from fusion is possible. Fusion has the potential to provide abundant, reliable, and non-carbon-emitting energy, and President Biden has set a goal of demonstrating a proof-of-concept for several different types of fusion power plants in 10 years as part of the effort to achieve the Administration’s ambitious climate and energy goals.
“Harnessing fusion energy is one of the greatest scientific and technological challenges of the 21st Century,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “We now have the confidence that it’s not only possible, but probable, that fusion energy can be a reality. The scientists in these hubs will be the vanguard of game-changing and planet-saving breakthroughs.”
Projects funded by the program—known as Inertial Fusion Energy Science and Technology Accelerated Research (IFE-STAR)—will bring together expertise and capabilities across DOE’s National Laboratories, academia, and industry to advance IFE system components. Inertial confinement fusion is a leading approach to fusion that uses lasers or other technologies to compress and heat high-density plasmas. IFE-STAR projects will develop high-gain target designs; high-efficiency lasers at high repetition rates; and IFE-relevant fusion target manufacturing, tracking, and engagement. A major component of the funded projects is stewardship of the inertial fusion ecosystem, including the development of an inclusive and diverse workforce.
“Fusion energy has the potential to provide clean, safe, and bountiful energy to support America’s domestic energy supply and meet our climate goals,” said U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (CO). “I have no doubt that Colorado State University will play a key role in advancing important fusion energy breakthroughs and help Colorado continue to lead the country in clean energy innovation.”
“This action from the Department is an important step to accelerate the advancement of inertial fusion energy solutions. I was happy to join the Secretary when she launched the IFE-STAR program during a celebration of the breakthrough achievement of fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility last year. I am happy to see these research hubs launched across the country today,” said U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. “I have been a strong advocate for the establishment of this very program for well over a decade. I’m encouraged that the Department is now following through on the strong direction provided by Congress in the bipartisan Energy Act of 2020 and the CHIPS and Science Act and look forward to continuing to track the progress of each of these impressive research teams.”
“I’m incredibly grateful to Secretary Granholm and the Department of Energy for recognizing the University of Rochester’s potential in the emerging field of Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) research,” said U.S. Representative Joe Morelle (NY-25). “For generations, Rochester has been synonymous with innovation, and it has long been my priority in Congress to launch our next chapter of regional growth and prosperity. This federal investment in our community’s scientific excellence will encourage our legendary innovation and unlock the next level of clean, safe, and carbon-free energy for the entire world.”
Inertial confinement fusion has attracted greater interest and attention due to breakthroughs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility, where on December 5, 2022, researchers achieved scientific breakeven, meaning more energy was released from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it. The researchers have since repeated the result three times.
The IFE-STAR projects aim to continue progress by addressing priority research opportunities outlined in the IFE Basic Research Needs Workshop report as well as common scientific and technological gaps in the anticipated technology roadmaps of IFE fusion companies participating in the Office of Science’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. Unlike magnetic confinement fusion, which aims to sustain a burning plasma for long durations, IFE will be repetitively pulsed. One of the goals is to develop the science and technology required to move inertial fusion from low-gain, single-shot experiments toward high gain and high repetition rates as required for a potential IFE pilot plant.
The 2013 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy recommended establishing a broad-based IFE program upon the achievement of laboratory fusion ignition. The Energy Act of 2020 and the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 directed DOE to carry out an IFE research and technology development program. Now that ignition has been achieved and following the direction in the legislation, DOE is establishing an IFE program via IFE-STAR.
The selected projects will build on and significantly leverage the world-leading capabilities, expertise, diagnostics, and facilities that exist due to sustained DOE and National Nuclear Security Administration investments in support of science-based Stockpile Stewardship, which uses scientific capabilities to certify America’s nuclear stockpile without nuclear explosive testing. IFE-STAR will also significantly expand upon IFE research that was jointly funded by DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) and Office of Science starting in 2020 under the ARPA-E Breakthroughs Enabling Thermonuclear-fusion Energy program.
The members of the three hubs are:
Inertial Fusion Energy-Consortium on Laser-Plasma Interaction Research hub
- University of Rochester (leader)
- Ergodic LLC
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Xcimer Energy Corp.
Inertial Fusion Science and Technology hub
- Colorado State University (leader)
- Cornell University
- General Atomics
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Marvel Fusion
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
- Texas A&M University
- U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Xcimer Energy Corp.
National Science and Technology Accelerated Research for Fusion Innovation & Reactor Engineering hub
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (leader)
- Focused Energy
- Fraunhofer ILT
- General Atomics
- Leonardo Electronics US Inc.
- Livermore Lab Foundation
- Longview Fusion Energy
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Savannah River National Laboratory
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
- Texas A&M University
- TRUMPF
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of California, San Diego
- University of Oklahoma
- University of Rochester
- Xcimer Energy Corp.
The projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for Inertial Fusion Energy Science and Technology Accelerated Research. Projects will last up to four years with total funding of $42 million, including $9 million in Fiscal Year 2023 and $33 million in outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations.
The list of projects and more information can be found on the Office of Science’s Fusion Energy Sciences homepage.
Selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. Before funding is issued, DOE and the applicants will undergo a negotiation process, and DOE may cancel negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason during that time.
