Winter Public Lecture Series in Physics
Fusion
energy and ITER - an opportunity for Australia
Dr
Barry Green
Directorate-General
for Research of the European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
8:00PM,
Monday, August 7, 2006
Physics Lecture Theatre 1
Sandy Bay Campus, University of Tasmania
ABSTRACT:
The Next Step to
a Sustainable Future
The development of modern civilisation
has been made possible by accessible and readily exploitable energy sources.
Energy is vital to our lives. In recent years, the supply of energy for this and
future generations has become a major issue, with the prospect of the
traditional, cheap energy sources becoming scarce, with energy exports being
increasingly used as a political tool, and with serious concerns about the
environmental effects of energy use. Fusion is an energy source as yet untapped
by man. It is the process which powers the sun and the stars. As such it is the
source of terrestrial life itself.
The dream is to control fusion processes to provide energy on Earth. Fusion energy is a zero greenhouse gas emitting technology which offers millions of years of base-load energy, in other words, a sustainable future. Research into taming a turbulent burning plasma and thereby controlling the fusion process, is one of the grand challenges of complex systems science.
On May
24, 2006 representatives of the countries involved initialled an international
agreement for the next step in fusion research and development. This agreement,
between countries representing over half the world’s population, is to
construct and operate a large experimental device, ITER (which is Latin for
“the way”) which should “demonstrate the scientific and technological
feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful purposes.”
In this lecture, Dr. Green will discuss
the issue of energy, the fusion process and its advantages as a source of
energy, the nature and history of fusion research and development which makes
ITER the next, logical step on the path to developing a fusion power-producing
reactor. He will also present the status of the ITER project, highlight
important scientific advances and challenges, and outline the future of fusion
power development.
Australia has an enviable reputation in
fusion energy. The fusion process was first discovered by an Australian. Sir
Mark Oliphant, in the early 1930s. Since this date, Australians have been
involved in programmatic fusion development. Australia’s own magnetic
confinement program commenced at the ANU and the University of Sydney in the
early 1960s. The present centrepiece of Australian fusion research is the H1
Major National Research Facility at the ANU. H1 is a medium-sized stellarator,
and supports a range of plasma diagnostics, magnetic configurations, turbulence
and wave physics research. H-1 research is complemented by active fusion theory
development, and extensive materials science research and capability.
Whilst Australia is blessed with significant resources of primary energy, the enormity of climate change arguably requires research into diverse, sustainable energy technologies. In this regard, Australia’s continued involvement in fusion research and its possible involvement in the ITER project should be considered as an important investment for the future.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Dr. Barry Green holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Sydney involving close collaboration with experimental studies of plasma (the state of matter of fusion fuel) in the School of Physics. After a Post-Doctoral assignment at the Princeton University, U.S.A. he was a researcher in fusion at the Max-Planck Institute for Plasmaphysics in Garching near Munich, Germany, before moving to work on the design, construction and operation of the European fusion experiment, JET, located near Oxford in the United Kingdom. He was the JET Engineer in Charge in November 1991 when JET produced the first significant amount of fusion power ever in a man-made device. From 1993 he was a member of the ITER international design team at its Joint Work Site in Japan. This international team prepared the design of the device, the construction of which will soon be formally agreed by the governments of the 7 parties involved (China, Europe, Korea, India, Japan, Russia, and the U.S.A.).This is the second lecture in this year's Winter Public Lecture Series in Physics. The series started in 2002 and is held in honour of Alexander and Leicester McAulay , two renowned Physics professors, who were inspiring teachers and did significant research at the University of Tasmania during the early years. Further information is available from Dr. Marc Duldig, ph. (03)6232-3333 e-mail: Marc.Duldig-at-aad.gov.au or Dr Elizabeth Chelkowska, ph. (03)6226-2725, e-mail: Elizabeth.Chelkowska-at-utas.edu.au . We are negotiating further lectures in the series. Details will appear on the web pages of the AIP Tasmanian Branch: http://tas.aip.org.au/