The pathway to delivering fusion power - Prof Ian Chapman - Lubbock Lecture 2023

Lubbock Lecture: The pathway to delivering fusion power
Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO, UK Atomic Energy Authority
Fusion offers the potential to provide continuous, safe and low-carbon power. However, there remain technical challenges to overcome to realise fusion as well as various other enabling measures which will be needed to make fusion a reality as soon as possible. This talk will begin by explaining the UK government strategy to delivering fusion and setting this in the context of other major fusion programmes internationally. It will then describe the major technical challenges required to deliver a magnetic fusion powerplant and give a brief overview of some of the key deliverables and discoveries that will be required on that pathway. An overview of recent major discoveries in the field will be presented together with a future outlook for the pathway to delivering fusion power.
Biography
Sir Ian Chapman became CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority in October 2016. He has held a number of international roles in fusion, currently including membership of the Princeton Plasma Physics Advisory board and chairing the IAEA International Fusion Research Committee. His research has been recognised with a number of international awards, including the Institute of Physics Paterson Medal in 2013, the American Physical Society Stix Award in 2017, the Royal Society Kavli Medal in 2019 and the Institute of Physics Glazebrook Medal for leadership in 2021.
He was made a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2013, became a visiting Professor at Durham University in 2015, elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2022 and made an Honorary Fellow of the Nuclear Institute in 2023. He was knighted in the King’s New Year’s Honours in 2023.

[@johnh6245]

This was an excellent talk, and gave an honest outline of some of the problems of bringing fusion to the market. In particular, his discussion in the questions section of the enrichment requirement for lithium (to increase the lithium 6 content) was very illuminating; unless an enrichment method is found quickly (and it could be intractable), then DT fusion is finished.

[@dan92677]

Question: What do you think of the MIT SPARC and ARC approach?

[@steve25782]

A sphere is the worst possible shape for getting heat out of the reactor. How long can a spherical tokamak maintain a burning plasma before it melts? I'd still bet on CFS to have the first fusion power on the grid. :-)

[@dan92677]

Excellent talk, when it could be heard... Please engage a decent sound tech, PLEASE !!!

[@timtruett5184]

Looking at the size of the tritium processing plant and hearing that one reactor would need something 50 times bigger, I finally gave up on fusion. Fusion power would need to be comparable in price to the alternatives, or it will never happen. We should put our money into technologies like solar and wind and battery storage because they work today, and they are economical.

[@laughingbuddha28]

Frc frc frc🍻🇮🇳