[en] The next step in the development of fusion power is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). ITER is intended to demonstrate that an ignited, self-sustaining fusion reactor can be produced in a practical, magnetic-confinement machine. It will be the last major facility built before a prototype, commercial demonstration of electricity generation using fusion energy. The four major funding parties are Japan, Europe, Russia, and the United States. Canada contributes two per cent of the total cost as part of the European coalition. ITER Conceptual Design Activities were conducted between 1988 and 1990. This was followed by the Engineering Design Activities phase, which is due to be completed in 1998. The participants have informally started to discuss the site selection process. It is expected that a siting decision will be made over the period 1995-1998, with construction starting as early as 1998. (author)

[en] Most of the components of the electrical power supply system of the new TJ-II stellarator, which is under construction in Madrid (Spain), are now constructed and tested. The flywheel synchronous generator is still under construction and its tests are planned for the end of 1995. The power plant is described in detail as well as the tests which have been carried out and their results

[en] In the next 50 yr, the world will need to develop hundreds of gigawatts of non-fossil-fuel energy sources for production of electricity and fuels. Nuclear fusion can probably provide much of the required energy economically, if large single-unit power plants are acceptable. Large power plants are more common than most people realize: There are already many multiple-unit power plants producing 2 to 5 GW(electric) at a single site. The cost of electricity (COE) from fusion energy is predicted to scale as COE ∼ COE₀(P/P₀)^-n, where P is the electrical power, the subscript zero denotes reference values, and the exponent n ∼ 0.36 to 0.7 in various designs. The validity ranges of these scalings are limited and need to be extended by future work. The fusion power economy of scale derives from four interrelated effects: improved operations and maintenance costs; scaling of equipment unit costs; a geometric effect that increases the mass power density; and reduction of the recirculating power fraction. Increased plasma size also relaxes the required confinement parameters: For the same neutron wall loading, larger tokamaks can use lower magnetic fields. Fossil-fuel power plants have a weaker economy of scale than fusion because the fuel costs constitute much of their COE. Solar and wind power plants consist of many small units, so they have little economy of scale. Fission power plants have a strong economy of scale but are unable to exploit it because the maximum unit size is limited by safety concerns. Large, steady-state fusion reactors generating 3 to 6 GW(electric) may be able to produce electricity for 4 to 5 cents/kW·h, which would be competitive with other future energy sources. 38 refs., 6 figs., 6 tabs

[en] The funding crunch in magnetic confinement fusion development has moved the editor of a largely technical publication to speak out on a policy issue. James A. Rome, who edits Stellarator News from the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wrote an editorial that appeared on the front page of the May 1992 issue. It was titled open-quotes The US Stellarator Program: A Time for Renewal,close quotes and while it focused chiefly on that subject (and lamented the lack of funding for the operation of the existing ATF stellarator at Oak Ridge), it also cited some of the problems inherent in the mainline MCF approach--the tokamak--and stated that if the money can be found for further tokamak design upgrades, it should also be found for stellarators. Rome wrote, open-quotes There is growing recognition in the US, and elsewhere, that the conventional tokamak does not extrapolate to a commercially competitive energy source except with very high field coils (<20 T) or large size (>1000 MWe).close quotes He pointed up open-quotes the difficulty of simultaneously satisfying conflicting tokamak requirements for efficient current drive, high bootstrap-current fraction, complete avoidance of disruptions, adequate beta limits, and edge-plasma properties compatible with improved (H-mode) confinement and acceptable erosion of divertor plates.close quotes He then called for support for the stellarator as open-quotes the only concept that has performance comparable to that achieved in tokamaks without the plasma-current-related limitations listed above.close quotes

[en] The paper describes briefly the fusion reaction of hydrogen isotopes, the Tokamak reactor and the photovoltaic conversion from solar energy produced by the same fusion reaction. Then the development, the domain of application, the market and the financing of these two forms of energy are reviewed and compared

[en] Fusion energy is a very promising alternative to the future energy demand. Unlimited fuel resources, practical emission and waste free energy production with high power density are advantages which are not obtainable in any other energy system. Research in controlled thermonuclear fusion started already forty years ago. The progress has been rapid after the first tokamak experiments in the late sixties. The scientific feasibility of fusion energy is recently demonstrated with large tokamaks by creating the extreme plasma conditions - high temperature and confinement - which are needed for fusion reactions. There are, however, difficult technological problems to be solved in the next generation tokamak reactors such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - ITER. These machines are under design, and the experimental programme is expected to start a few years after the year 2000. Experiments will take well over ten years so that the full-scale demonstration power plants are not likely to operate before 2020. This means that fusion is not a timely answer, but in long term, fusion energy has an excellent potential to be the final and sustained solution to the energy needs of mankind

[en] The Canadian Fusion Fuels Technology Project is making an innovative proposal whereby Ontario Hydro would provide space at its Darlington or Bruce sites as potential sites for the ITER project. An economic impact analysis, conducted by Ernst and Young, shows the potential benefits to Canada. The Ontario sites meet or exceed ITER requirements. A stable electrical supply grid, existing waste management infrastructure, an abundance of cheap power, and a skilled workforce, make Canada an attractive prospect, and quite possibly the cheapest option. Ontario Hydro's large stockpile of tritium may also be a factor. Canada is attractive as a neutral alternative, and has gained early Russian support. 1 fig

[en] The author discusses the role of industry in the ITER project. In particular, emphasis is placed on preparing US industry to play a role in this program, and to prepare it to bid on construction contracts for either ITER systems, or parts of other development efforts which result from the engineering design study phase of the ITER project which is just about to commence. Fusion is on the verge of moving from the research lab into the commercial sector, and US business has to be brought into the project now in order to be prepared to bid on eventual construction projects. The objective is to involve industry in the design of the ITER reactor. The opportunity for industry to participate in identifying the requirements of the site for the ITER facility exists. In the area of technology development, industry must have a leading role in the design, construction, and testing of hardware prototypes. The objective is to prepare US industry to bid successfully on the construction of ITER or any other large fusion facilities to be built anywhere in the world

[en] A large fusion research reactor, being designed jointly by four major powers - Europe, U.S., Japan and the USSR - could possibly be demonstrating energy from fusion within 15 years, if the four powers continue the project as planned. This fusion machine, called the International Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER), is a major focus for world fusion energy programs. The ITER project was addressed by most speakers at a seminar in Ottawa held October 24 and hosted by the Canadian Nuclear Association and Canadian Nuclear Society. Canada actively participates in the ITER project through the European Community

[en] The activation aspects of pure fusion and hybrid fusion technology is studied to assess the radioactive safety of various fusion concepts including tokamak pure fusion, fissile fuel producing hybrid and radio waste transmuting hybrid. The activation properties of breeding, coolant and structural materials in fusion reactors might be quite different from those in fission reactors because of the high energy D-T fusion neutrons from the fusion cores. A study on the involved activation reactions and the uncertainties of the associated nuclear cross-sections is carried. The activation properties of various first wall concepts and blanket concepts are discussed. The radioactive inventory during the operation lifetime and the potential hazard of the radioactive nuclides with respect to near term (reprocessing) and long term (waste disposal) aspects are calculated, with reference to ITER/NET (International Thermonuclear Experiment Reactor/Next European Torus), STARFIRE (a commercial tokamak fusion power reactor), HEHR (Hefei Experiment Hybrid Reactor), HCHR (Hefei Commercial Hybrid Reactor) and THWT (Tokamak Hybrid Waste Transmuter), using the improved general one-dimensional multi-group radioactivity calculation code FDKR as well as the improved decay chain data library AF-DCDLIB. Also, a comparison among various conceptual fusion reactors, hybrid reactors and fission reactors including LWR (Light Water Reactor), HTGR (High Temperature Gas Reactor) and FBR (Fast Neutron Breeding Reactor) is carried out