FPN13-04

Europe Looks Toward Fusion Electricity in the 2040s

January 23, 2013

At the beginning of 2012 the European Commission requested the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) to prepare a technical roadmap to fusion electricity by the year 2050. EFDA coordinates the work of European countries working on fusion. Their report is now complete. A PDF copy of the 38-page report, titled "Fusion Electricity: A Roadmap to the Realisation of Fusion Energy, can be requested from Fusion Power Associates, fusionpwrassoc@aol.com .

In the preface, EFDA Leader Francesco Romanelli states, "According to the present roadmap, a demonstration fusion power plant (DEMO), producing net electricity for the grid at the level of a few hundred Megawatts is foreseen to start operation in the early 2040s. Following ITER, it will be the single step to a commercial fusion power plant." He says, "Defining, designing, building and operating DEMO requires the direct involvement of industry in the fusion programme that in the coming decades will move from being science-driven, laboratory-based towards an industry-driven and technology-driven venture."

The report describes science and technology efforts that must be pursued in order to carry out the plan.