Events in Physics
Steven Cowley, Culham
Location: PLT
Professor Steven Cowley, Director of UKAEA Culham Laboratory
In a decade, the international fusion experiment ITER will start operating in the south of France. This historic experiment will generate up to 500 megawatts of fusion power and provide a proof of principle for fusion energy. Fusion has the potential to provide a large fraction of our energy for millions of years. I will describe the scientific progress in fusion - from Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington's prophetic predictions in 1920 to the remarkable results that have lead to ITER. There are challenging problems that must be solved to make fusion power a commercial option. I will outline these problems and worldwide efforts to find their solution.