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Their aim is as ambitious as it is monumental: to replicate the energy source that powers the solar system, effectively building a mini sun — a swirling mass of super-heated atomic plasma so hot that it can only be contained by a magnetic field.

The process is called nuclear fusion.

Scientists believe that if fusion technology can be successfully harnessed as a human energy source, it could help save the world from future environmental catastrophe.

From vision to construction

Just outside the port city of Marseille in the south of France work is underway on a giant nuclear fusion test facility known as ITER — Latin for “the way”.

Its construction is being funded by an international collaboration between 35 nations, and it’s expected to cost somewhere between $27 billion and $36 billion when completed……

Fusion versus fission

Conventional nuclear reactors harness energy from a process called fission, which involves splitting the nucleus of a large atom.

Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, works by forcing atoms together in order to release energy…….

“The advantages of fusion are: no risk of meltdown — it’s very easy to stop it safely — no production of radioactive waste, and a very high energy density of the fuel,”  …….

Early test reactors managed to produce a fusion reaction, but not one that was sustainable or energy efficient. In other words, it took more energy to produce the reaction, than the reaction itself produced……

The first plasma experiments are now expected to begin in 2025.

For ITER to be considered a success, according to Professor Garrett, it must demonstrate that it can achieve an energy gain of a factor of 10.

“ITER consumes 50 megawatts of power to produce this plasma at 150 million degrees, and the goal is to produce 500 megawatts of power from that plasma,” he says.

“The second goal is to be able to maintain that condition for many minutes at a time, so maybe 10 minutes, up to an hour, and that’s what you would need for a steady-state power reactor.”

Scale and manageability

ITER isn’t the only nuclear fusion initiative underway.

In both North America and the United Kingdom there are numerous projects operating on a smaller scale……….

Future focused or fantastic folly?

Proponents of nuclear fusion believe it will end the world’s dependence on fossil fuels once and forever.

But the catch is that no-one involved in the research believes a fully operational, commercially viable nuclear fusion reactor will be operating before at least 2050.

That fact has seen some question the level of financial investment, including Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, the director of Energy Research at Oxford University and a former director general of CERN.

He once managed the UK’s fusion program, but two years ago, in an interview with the Simons Centre for Geometry and Physics, he expressed doubts about ITER and the viability of the industry in general.

“I used to think that there was a reasonably good chance that fusion could compete with other low carbon sources of power, but while I would not say that it’s impossible, the situation has changed,” he said.

“The cost of wind and solar power has decreased faster than anyone could have dreamed. Meanwhile ITER has gone way over budget. Fusion reactors will be intrinsically more expensive than we thought a decade ago.”

He argues that ITER needs to go ahead, but that a final cost comparison with renewables should be conducted before any construction on a full-scale reactor is begun.