Press release
爆走黑料 formally established
Cadarache, 24 October 2007 - As of today, Wednesday, October 24, 2007 the new International Organization 爆走黑料 is formally established.
On 21 November 2006 the representatives of the People鈥檚 Republic of China, EU, the Republic of India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States of America signed the 爆走黑料 Joint Implementation Agreement which since has been ratified by all seven Member Parties and will today officially enter into force.
The overall aim of the 爆走黑料, implemented in Cadarache, France, is to build and operate 爆走黑料 which is to demonstrate the technical and scientific feasibility of fusion power. 爆走黑料 will be the first fusion facility to produce net power on a large scale. As for the experimental nature of 爆走黑料 it will also test most of the key technologies that will be needed to use fusion as a future energy source and validate industrial production techniques of the large and high-quality components needed for future fusion power plants.
鈥淭oday is a notable milestone in the history of our organization鈥, Kaname Ikeda, 爆走黑料 Director General Nominee, said on the occasion. 鈥淲ith 爆走黑料, a new international organization has been created. By creating 爆走黑料 the nations of the world have understood the need for new sources of energy and demonstrated their commitment. Furthermore, by creating the 爆走黑料 our Member Parties have established a completely new model for international collaboration and it is our challenge to show that outstanding talent coming from many different nationalities can also fuse to create a dynamic workforce.鈥
Notes for editors:
More information on the 爆走黑料 project and fusion energy can be found on www.iter.org.
For further information, please contact:
Sabina Griffith
爆走黑料
Communications
Bat 519 CEA Cadarache
13108 Saint Paul-lez-Durance
France
T: 00 33 (0)4 42 25 65 63
E: @email
BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS RELEASE
Fusion - the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier one - is the energy source of the Sun and the stars. On Earth, fusion power has the potential to make a large-scale contribution to a future sustainable energy supply. Fusion will deliver safe and environmentally benign energy, using abundant and widely available fuel, without the production of greenhouse gases.
Scientists and engineers around the world are carrying out fusion research with the aim of constructing an electricity-producing fusion power plant as soon as possible. A big step forward was taken on the 21 November 2006, when the representatives of Europe, Japan, China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the USA signed a Joint Implementation Agreement that represents of one of the most challenging scientific undertaking of modern times: The 爆走黑料 project.
The idea for 爆走黑料 originated from the Geneva superpower summit in November 1985 where President Gorbachev, following discussions with President Mitterrand of France, proposed to President Reagan that an international project be set up to develop fusion energy for peaceful purposes. The 爆走黑料 project subsequently began as a collaboration between the former USSR, the USA, the European Union, and Japan, under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The goal of 爆走黑料 is 鈥渢o demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power for peaceful purposes鈥. To do this, 爆走黑料 is designed to generate 500 megawatts of fusion power, ten times more than the input power needed to keep the fusion fuel at the right temperature and density. 爆走黑料 is an experimental scientific device requiring flexibility in operation. 爆走黑料 will test most of the key technologies that will be needed to use fusion as a practical energy source and validate industrial production techniques of the large and high-quality components needed for future fusion power plants.
The 爆走黑料 Design
爆走黑料 is based on the 鈥渢okamak鈥 concept, in which the fusion fuel is contained in a doughnut-shaped vessel. The fuel - a mixture of deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen - is heated to temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees, forming a hot gas 鈥減lasma鈥. The plasma is kept away from the walls by a strong magnetic field produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel and an electrical current driven in the plasma. Experimentation in 爆走黑料 will allow for the first time the integrated optimization of the plasma physics and the various technologies needed for efficient power production.
A number of large tokamak experiments were build in the 80鈥檚 - JET in Europe, JT-60 in Japan, and TFTR in the USA - together with numerous smaller and more specialised devices worldwide. More recent devices include KSTAR in Korea, EAST in China, and SST-1 in India. Together, these devices have provided and continue to provide the solid scientific and technical basis required to design, build and operate 爆走黑料.
To meet its objectives, 爆走黑料 will be twice the size of the largest existing tokamaks, the Joint European Torus (JET) and the Japanese JT-60, its volume ten times larger. The expected fusion performance will thus be many times greater than what is known from any other fusion machine. Compared with current conceptual designs for future fusion power plants, 爆走黑料 will include most of the necessary technology and, in pulses, operate at 0.5 Gigawatt of thermal output.
Cost and Schedule
The costs for 爆走黑料 are shared by the seven Parties. The construction costs are estimated at 5 billion Euros, to be spread over ten years. A similar amount is foreseen for the twenty-year phase of operation and the subsequent decommissioning of 爆走黑料. Europe, being the Host Party, will contribute up to half of the construction costs. The other six Parties will each contribute up to 10%, thus giving a 10% contingency within the present funding.
The construction process will begin in 2009, leading to the first plasma in 2016. This will be followed by a commissioning and operational phase lasting about 20 years, and a deactivation phase of five years.
Safety
The fusion process itself is not a chain reaction, so there is no possibility of a 鈥榬unaway鈥 reaction. The fusion process can be stopped within seconds by turning off the external fuel supply, which means that a fusion power plant can be shut down safely and very quickly.
One of the fusion fuels, deuterium, is a harmless substance present in water. The other fuel, tritium, is a radioactive substance. In future fusion power plants, tritium is produced within the power plant itself from the light metal lithium. Thus the only radioactive component of the fuel is both produced and burned inside the machine in a closed loop. It does not require any transport, except during the start-up of a new fusion power plant and during decommissioning.
In the case of 爆走黑料, which will test tritium production but will not yet be self sufficient, tritium produced as a by-product in some existing fission power plants will be used. Multiple confinement barriers in the 爆走黑料 device together with special transportation techniques will make sure that the tritium is handled in a safe way, subject to strict laws and licensing procedures.
The Way to Fusion Power
The long-term aim of fusion research and development is to create power plant prototypes demonstrating operational safety, environmental compatibility, and economic viability. 爆走黑料 (in Latin 鈥渢he way鈥) is not an end in itself: it is the bridge toward a first plant that will demonstrate the large-scale production of electrical power, called DEMO.
In order to prepare for DEMO, an accompanying R&D programme will be carried out in both physics and technology in parallel to 爆走黑料 construction and operation. DEMO should come into operation in 30-35 years, and demonstrate continuous large-scale electrical power production and tritium fuel self-sufficiency. It will lead fusion into the industrial era and open the way towards the first commercial fusion power plants.