ITER (FRANCE): IN SEARCH OF THE HOLY GRAIL OF ENERGY DA VINCI CODE - DESENMASCARANDO LAS FALSAS DOCTRINAS

It’s been around for so long that it’s almost gone out of fashion. Nuclear fusion has been and remains the holy grail of energy research and it’s about to take a giant leap forward. In Provence, the world’s largest and most exciting nuclear fusion research facility is finally taking shape. The cost overruns are almost as astonishing as the engineering itself. At the beginning of the century, it was suggested that Iter, the world’s largest fusion experiment, could be built for around €6bn. By the middle of this decade, when it is fully operational, total costs will be at least 10 times greater than that. Big science has a habit of overrunning its initial budget but Iter is in a league of its own.

As long ago as the 1930s, nuclear fusion was demonstrated in a lab at the University of Cambridge. A team led by Ernest Rutherford achieved the impossible using equipment that would seem tiny and primitive to the modern physicist. Since then, over 100 fusion reactors have been built around the world. Not one of them has produced a single kilowatt of electricity. Neither will Iter. The option to generate electricity has not been engineered into the Iter project. Its purpose is to do something that no previous fusion reactor has ever done: gain.

The whole point of a nuclear fusion reactor is that it should generate electricity. Thus far, just about all of them have consumed more energy than they produced. When a reactor gives a positive balance sheet on the energy front then it has achieved gain. If it succeeds, then we will have to build another groundbreaking reactor called Demo. Demo ought to be able to produce about 2 gigawatts of electricity. To put this figure into perspective remember that the existing fission nuclear reactor at the Sizewell B station on the Suffolk coast produces 1.8 gigawatts. If Demo succeeds then that in turn might lead to the production of fusion reactors on a large scale and an end to the energy crisis, global warming and the various proxy wars that men have fought to secure their fossil fuel resources. Iter is effectively a stepping stone on the way to a commercially credible power source. In practice, we’ll be lucky to see a viable fusion reactor anywhere in the world in the next 30 years.

This kind of thing has prompted many observers to conclude that we’re just never going to get there. Not only does fusion research consume a huge proportion of our overall R&D budget, but it never delivers a return. It is a mirage that recedes as fast as we approach it.

Needless to say, this isn’t an entirely rational position. For thousands of years, people could see birds in the sky and dreamt that man might be able to emulate their skill. All kinds of idiots attached improvised wings to their arms and quite a few people actually killed themselves trying to launch themselves from a cliff. Then, one bright sunny day in Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers actually managed it. And then we could fly. If you stop to think about it, we could say much the same thing about virtually any scientific or technological achievement at any stage in our history.

In time, we will say the same of fusion.

1952: ‘Ivy Mike’ was the first full-scale test of a thermonuclear device in which part of the explosive yield comes from nuclear fusion (CTBTO/CC BY 2.0)

This problem has been compounded by a relentless process of false optimism. While scientists and engineers usually cite 20 years as the delay between where we are now and the date of the first fully functional nuclear reactor, this 20 to 30 year time span has remained unchanged since the 1950s. In an era of real scientific optimism (the 1960s) fusion seemed more likely than in an era of self-doubt (for example, the 1970s).

There are, however, genuine problems for the fusion industry. The airline industry is heavily reliant on business travellers but ongoing advances in virtual reality may lead to many face-to-face business meetings being abandoned. People communicating from the office or even – as we have seen lately – their spare bedroom.

The price of photovoltaic solar panels is plummeting and it’s not obvious when this process will end but if it doesn’t, many fusion scientists may be looking for another job. It has been predicted that by 2050, about a third of global electricity will be derived from the sun. While this may prove to be overly optimistic, it’s at least as likely that the true figure will be much higher than this than lower. Onshore wind has experienced a dramatic reduction in cost and a fusion power plant would, presumably, find itself competing with with all of these technologies. As a kid, I read about global warming long before it became a mainstream political issue. I can remember thinking that there was a reasonable chance that global warming would become a reality but that governments would simply ignore it until things were much too late. I was wrong. Dramatic action is now underway.

A model of the future International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) in France (AFP/Getty)

ITER: IN SEARCH OF THE HOLY GRAIL OF ENERGY

THE WORLD'S LARGEST NUCLEAR FUSION REACTOR IS BEING CONSTRUCTED IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. ITER'S DIRECTOR GENERAL PIETRO BARABASCHI EXPLAINS HOW IT WILL WORK.

Is the holy grail of energy finally within reach... and will it work?

Since the first demonstration in the 1930s, hundreds of reactors have been built all over the world. Not one has produced a single gigawatt of energy, nor will they for decades. But that’s not the point, writes Steven Cutts