Future of Fusion

From Thermal-FluidsPedia

Because of a wide range of technical difficulties that must be overcome, it is difficult to predict when fusion will become practical. As with many other research efforts, economics will have a major impact on the degree of progress that can be achieved. Because of its complexity and cost, fusion research requires not only cooperation between private industries, utility companies, and the government, but also a high degree of international collaboration. The optimistic view is that commercial fusion power plants can be constructed just before the earth’s fossil fuels are depleted, somewhere around the years 2045-2060.

References

(1) Toossi Reza, "Energy and the Environment:Sources, technologies, and impacts", Verve Publishers, 2005

Further Reading

Bodansky, Nuclear Energy Principles, Practices, and Prospects, Second Ed., Springer, 2004.

Seaborg, G., T., Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, University Press of the Pacific, 2005.

International Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Design, Direct Science Elsevier Publishing Company, devoted to the Thermal, Mechanical, Material and Structural Aspects of Nuclear Fission.

Journal of Fusion Energy, Springer Netherlands. It features articles pertinent to development of thermonuclear fusion.

External Links

Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/index.html).

International Atomic Energy Agency (http://www.iaea.org).

DoE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science & Technology (http://www.ne.doe.gov).

American Nuclear Society, (http://www.ans.org).

World Association of Nuclear Operator (WANO) (http://www.wano.org.uk).