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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, during the opening day of the 29th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC) in London, launched the World Fusion Outlook (WFO), a new regular publication providing authoritative information and updates on fusion energy. It is expected to become a global reference for energy R&D, technology development and prospective deployment of fusion.

Date: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsiaea-launches-world-fusion-outlook-2023-11224436

New report highlights current opportunities for progress in commercialisation of the technology The UK has shortlisted five sites as the potential future home of the country’s first prototype fusion energy plant. Courtesy UKAEA. Capital costs for the development of a new generation of nuclear fusion reactors are high at around £100/MWh, but a substantial programme of standard build could bring them down to a viable target of £60-£70/MWh, a report published by engineering group Assystem says.

According to the report, which examines the potential for fusion in the UK, the government has estimated the 2040 levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) for the UK for standalone offshore wind, onshore wind and large-scale solar of £40/MWh, £44/MWh and £33/MWh respectively.

The £60-£70/MWh cost for fusion “provides the first target for nuclear fusion to be economically competitive”, the report concludes. It says fusion is uncompetitive today with other low-carbon options available in the UK – including wind and light-water nuclear fission reactors. The reason for this is the combination of a relatively high construction cost (£5,887/kWe) and a low capacity factor (56%).

The International Energy Agency has put the LCOE for advanced nuclear at $63/MWh (about £45/MWh).

With an improved, large fusion design the construction cost decreases to £4,135/kWe and the capacity factor to 75%. These two effects improve the fusion economics, decreasing the LCOE into the range £60 to £97/MWh. For a small fusion design, the energy cost of 75 units is in the region of £69- £99/MWh – a range that is comparable to 10 units of large fusion reactors and also the energy cost of LWR fission reactors.

Date: Saturday, 23 October 2021
Original article: nucnet.org/news/capital-costs-are-high-but-can-be-reduced-to-economically-competitive-level-10-4-2021

South Korea’s National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) on 24 November announced that the K-STAR fusion reactor had managed to operate the plasma at 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds – the world’s first nuclear fusion reactor to have maintained plasma for more than 10 seconds at that temperature.

Date: Friday, 04 December 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsanother-plasma-record-for-koreas-fusion-researchers-8391022

US Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) leaders last week to mark progress toward a next-generation fusion materials project.

Date: Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsprogess-for-oakridge-mpex-fusion-project-8191161

Construction at the Iter nuclear fusion site in southern France. Photo courtesy Iter.

8 Apr (NucNet): The world is running out of options for generating sustainable, safe, CO2-free, baseload electricity, but the one option that “ticks all the boxes” for the future is nuclear fusion, a paper published in the UK says.

Date: Monday, 08 April 2019
Original article: nucnet.org/news/nuclear-fusion-ticks-all-the-boxes-for-a-future-energy-source-says-paper

Belgium’s Council of Ministers on 7 September announced funding of €558 million ($646 million) for the Myrrha research infrastructure that is being developed at SCK•CEN’s premises in Mol.

Date: Thursday, 13 September 2018
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsbelgium-allocates-funds-for-myrrha-research-facility-6748928

A new fission-fusion hybrid reactor will be assembled at Russia’s Kurchatov Institute by the end of 2018, Peter Khvostenko, scientific adviser of the Kurchatov complex on thermonuclear energy and plasma technologies, announced on 14 May. The physical start-up of the facility is scheduled for 2020.

Date: Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsrussia-develops-a-fission-fusion-hybrid-reactor-6168535

Experimental and theoretical research has shown 'spherical' tokamaks to be a "fast route to fusion" compared with more "conventional" tokamak devices such as Joint European Torus (JET), according to David Kingham, chief executive of Tokamak Energy.

Date: Monday, 30 January 2017
Original article: world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Spherical-tokamak-to-put-fusion-power-in-grid-by-2

The UK Department of Energy & Climate Change has a problem with the world’s largest stocks of reactor-grade plutonium. The international association Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy view this as a one-time opportunity to benefit several advanced nuclear energy developments, none of which are acknowledged by DECC. By Brendan McNamara

Weak, short distance radiation makes it warm; so it is safe to hold but not to swallow. UK reactor grade plutonium is unsuitable for making weapons. And small-scale uses of UK plutonium could never go critical

Date: Friday, 27 May 2011
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newssmarter-uses-for-plutonium

Fusion research company Tokamak Solutions has secured £170,000 of equity investment from Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood, the Rainbow Seed Fund, Oxford Instruments plc and investor members of the Oxford Early Investments network.

Date: Monday, 21 February 2011
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newsex-ukaea-fusion-scientists-go-private