U.S. Fusion Energy Future
Authors: John A. Schmidt, Dan Jassby, Scott Larson, Maria Pueyo, and Paul H. Rutherford
Date of PPPL Report: October 2000
Presented at: the 14th Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy, to be held at Park City, UT, October 15-19, 2000. Proceedings to be published in Fusion Technology.
Fusion implementation scenarios for the United States have been developed. The dependence of these scenarios on both the fusion development and implementation paths has been assessed. A range of implementation paths has been studied. The deployment of CANDU fission reactors in Canada and the deployment of fission reactors in France have been assessed as possible models for U.S. fusion deployment. The waste production and resource (including tritium) needs have been assessed. The conclusion that can be drawn from these studies is that it is challenging to make a significant impact on energy production during this century. However, the rapid deployment of fission reactors in Canada and France support fusion implementation scenarios for the U.S. with significant power production during this century. If we can meet the schedule requirements then the resource needs and waste production are found to be manageable problems.