The Fusion Pilot Plant is a program initiated in 2021 by the United States Department of Energy to construct a pilot plant capable of producing net electrical fusion power by the 2030s. In September 2022, $50 million was earmarked by the Department of Energy for development of a pilot fusion power plant.[1][2] The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine was involved in kicking off the program and advised it become a United States public-private partnership.[3][4]

General Fusion received an award in July 2022 to study tritium production for the pilot plant startup.[5] In October 2022, General Atomics announced it would compete to construct the plant, citing its success operating the DIII-D tokamak, and expressed an interest in siting it in Southern California.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "U.S. fusion pilot program ready to back designs from industry-led teams". Nuclear newswire. American Nuclear Society. September 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ Department of Energy Announces $50 Million for a Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program (press release), United States Department of Energy Office of Science, September 22, 2022
  3. ↑ Robert J. Goldston (April 14, 2021), "National Academies calls for a fusion pilot plant", Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
  4. ↑ John Greenwald (November 11, 2021). "PPPL expert details plans for a fusion pilot plant for presidential advisors". Quest. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
  5. ↑ "Savannah River leverages its tritium experience to support fusion power". Nuclear newswire. American Nuclear Society. July 22, 2022.
  6. ↑ "General Atomics announces concept for Fusion Pilot Plant". World Nuclear News. October 25, 2022.
  7. ↑ Rob Nikolewski (November 4, 2022). "San Diego company plans to build a nuclear fusion plant. Will the pilot program work?". San Diego Union-Tribune.

Further reading

  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021), Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid, The National Academies Press, doi:10.17226/25991, ISBN 978-0-309-68538-2, S2CID 234325937


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