Stuart Nathan

Nuclear fusion, JET and ITER: Your questions answered

In-Depth

Two European projects are hoping to pave the way for commercially viable power generation using nuclear fusion – a breakthrough that could make a massive contribution to our energy and climate change worries. We put your questions to the scientists and engineers working on these ambitious and fascinating schemes.

Thank you to all readers of The Engineer who sent in questions for the teams at ITER – the project to demonstrate the feasibility of magnetic-confinement nuclear fusion that is currently under construction in Cadarache, France – and its predecessor and pilot project, the Joint European Torus (JET) at Culham in Oxfordshire.

In 1997, JET set the world record for producing the largest amount of power (16MW) from fusion using deuterium-tritium (D-T), the fuel proposed for the first generation of fusion power plants. After a period of upgrades, the project is preparing an attempt at breaking that record.

The follow-up programme, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), will attempt to go a step further and generate more power than is used to start the process.

Experts from both projects have provided the answers to your questions you’ll see here. The Engineer will continue to report on this fascinating project, as well as the parallel efforts in intertial-confinement or laser fusion currently taking place in the US.

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