The quest for fusion power - standing on the shoulders of Hannés Alfvén
The worldwide spending on fusion research has increased twofold in the last three years as private companies have joined the quest for fusion power.
Time: Thu 2023-10-12 17.00 - 18.00
Location: Lecture Hall F1, Alfvén Salen, Lindstedsvägen 22, plan 2
Video link: Zoom link for online attendance
Contact:
About
The need for a sustainable, carbon free energy option to supplement intermittent renewable sources is clear. Fusion, if it can be made to work, is just such an option. However, huge scientific challenges must be surmounted if fusion is to become commercially viable. In the next decade many of these challenges will be addressed on the international experiment ITER that is under construction in France. The new fusion companies are seeking to accelerate the development of a commercial system. But they must also address the challenges of confining a fusing plasma. Over eighty years ago Hannes Alfvén introduced two simple but profound ideas -- the Alfvén wave and guiding center motion -- that remain at the heart of the challenge. Predictive computational tools that are rooted in Alfvén’s ideas have replaced empirical understanding of fusion systems governed by turbulence in the last decade. Computational exploration and physical understanding of optimum fusion systems has begun and is yielding new and surprising configurations. I will introduce fusion power, the central issues in today’s research and Alfvén’s enduring contribution.
Speaker
Sir Steven Cowley, Director Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, USA
Hosts
Michael Tendler, Professor Em. Fusion Plasma Physics
Göran Marklund, Former Head of Space and Plasma Physics Division
Christer Fuglesang, Director of KTH space center
Registration
Advance registration is not needed.
Coffee will be served starting from 16:40