Nuclear fusion : ITER
Nuclear fusion : ITER
Today, nuclear fusion means ITER! ITER is a global project as it brings together 35 countries that have committed to building the largest tokamak ever designed. ITER aims to demonstrate that fusion can be used as a source of energy to generate electricity on a large scale.
ITER and nuclear fusion: the sun on Earth
ITER is a full-scale demonstrator whose construction began in 2010 at the Cadarache site in the south of France. At the end of 2017, ITER leaders officially announced that 50 per cent of all the work required to produce the first plasma had been completed. This first plasma is scheduled for the end of 2025, with the first deuterium-tritium operations planned for 2035.
The next stage of the programme involves, in the longer term, the construction of a power generation demonstrator that will incorporate all the lessons learnt from ITER.
ITER was specifically designed to:
- Generate 500 MW of fusion power;
- Demonstrate the integrated operation of the technologies required for a fusion power station;
- Achieve a self-sustaining deuterium-tritium plasma;
- Experiment with tritium production;
- Demonstrate the safety of a fusion facility. One of ITER’s main objectives is to demonstrate that the fusion reactions taking place within the plasma have no impact on the public or the environment.
How does it work?
Fusion reactors do not rely on the fission of atomic nuclei, as is the case with current third-generation nuclear reactors. Nuclear fusion aims to fuse very small hydrogen nuclei (deuterium and tritium) to produce unlimited energy – just like the sun.
Many researchers are studying this physical phenomenon and how to harness it. Various experimental prototypes (‘tokamaks’, stellarators, etc.) are in operation around the world to investigate the potential and feasibility of this method of energy production.
