WEMO 2025 (complet) - Flipbook - Page 25
W E M O 202 5
O U T LO O K
underestimated the complexity of assembling a 昀椀rst-of-itskind tokamak. The international collaboration model, involving
35 nations, complicated coordination and component delivery.
These factors have pushed costs up by €5 billion to around
€25 billion and delayed full deuterium-tritium operations to
2039.185
Despite some progress, nuclear fusion is unlikely
to reach industrial electricity generation before
2050180
In December 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF)
(Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California) achieved
a fusion ignition generating more energy from the fusion
reaction than the laser energy used to trigger it. Speci昀椀cally,
the experiment delivered 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of laser energy
to the target, resulting in a fusion output of 3.15 MJ, achieving
a net energy gain. However, this gain only accounts for the
energy delivered to the target, not the total energy consumed
by the laser system, which is signi昀椀cantly higher (around 300
MJ) . So, contrarily to some statements, this experiment was not
net energy positive. Since then, the NIF has achieved fusion
ignition multiple times with improved energy gains but far
from being net energy positive.
However, the international ITER fusion project184 has faced
new delays and cost overruns due to several root causes. The
COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, and manufacturing defects,
such as cracks in vacuum vessel welds and corrosion in thermal
shields, required extensive repairs. Overly optimistic planning
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/top-7-nuclear-fusion-stories-of-2024
https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/news/archive/announcements/2024/jet-fusion-reactorachieves-new-world-record-in-昀椀nal-experiments#:~:text=JET%20Fusion%20Reactor%20
Achieves%20New%20World%20Record%20in%20Final%20Experiments,-8%20February%20
2024&text=The%20Joint%20European%20Torus%20(JET,set%20a%20new%20world%20record
182
https://english.news.cn/20250120/1d4e392ccaef48f29e8e9cdd0f9360c5/c.
html#:~:text=20%2C%202025.-,The%20Experimental%20Advanced%20Superconducting%20
Tokamak%20(EAST)%2C%20dubbed%20China's%20%22,quest%20for%20fusion%20power%20
generation.
180
181
https://www.pppl.gov/news/2024/fusion-record-set-tungsten-tokamak-west
https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/04/iter_new_baseline_project_delays/
9 years more than the original schedule
183
WEMO 2025
• Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) is a process that
initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and
heating targets filled with deuterium and tritium.
The confinement is triggered by powerful laser.
184
185
24
• Tokamaks: In 2024 and early 2025, the research on nuclear
fusion for electricity generation achieved some milestones.
The Joint European Torus (JET)181 in the UK set a record
by producing 69 megajoules of fusion energy for six
seconds, China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting
Tokamak (EAST) sustained high-temperature plasma for
1,066 seconds182, and Princeton’s tungsten-clad WEST
tokamak183 sustained a 50-million-degree plasma for
six minutes, all steps toward durable reactor materials.
Private investment surged, with companies like
Commonwealth Fusion Systems promising very optimistically
a commercial demonstrator in 2030!! But as French people
say, “promises are only binding on those who believe them!”
