Enabling Technologies for a Commercially Viable
Fusion Power Plant
presented at IEEE SOFE town hall, June 4, 2019

Scott Hsu, Program Director, ARPA-E
scott.hsu@hq.doe.gov

Bottom line up front‣ Evolving energy markets and experience of the nuclear industry point to strong
constraints:– Reduced nameplate generation capacity (“few hundred MWe or less”)– Reduced overnight capital cost (“less than a few US$B”)– Reduced size, complexity, O&M costs‣ While recognizing there are areas of overlap, ARPA-E interested in exploring
differences between present fusion-technology roadmap and technology needs of“lower-capital-cost fusion”– synergistic with but more aggressive than NAS recommendation #2

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Outline‣ ARPA-E, and framing fusion at ARPA-E‣ Enabling technologies for a commercially viable fusion power plant2

What is ARPA-E?
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is an agency within theU.S. Department of Energy that:‣ Provides Research and Development funding for high-risk, high-reward,transformational ideas‣ Focuses on technologies that could fundamentally change the way we get, useand store energy‣ Accelerates energy innovations that will create a more secure, affordable, andsustainable American energy future

Mission: To overcome long-term andhigh-risk technological barriers in thedevelopment of energy technologies
3ARPA-E funds transformative, off-roadmap energy R&D

Time or Amount Invested
4Framing the need for fusion
Nearer term (mid-century)• Risk mitigation for- getting to cost-effective,
zero- and negativeemissions grid- tackling hard-todecarbonize sectors(transportation fuels,industrial processes, etc.)• Energy production near
dense population centers

Longer term (beyond)• Meet substantial growth inworldwide energy needs• Remove energy as a sourceof geopolitical conflict• Change the way we generate
and use energy, e.g.:- water desalinization- deep space travel andcolonization- planetary defense

More studies are needed to examine nearer-term scenarios including fusion5

To have impact this century, fusion must learn from fission: (1) lower cost and complexity, (2)understand where the market is going, and (3) achieve regulatory certainty

6Outline‣ ARPA-E, and framing fusion at ARPA-E‣ Enabling technologies for a commercially viable fusion power plant

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Request for Information (RFI) released May 5 (responses due
tomorrow), to inform portion of a potential new fusion program

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Areas of interest focus on common challenges of commercial
fusion concepts• Engage outside communities• Fuel cycle (DT and advanced fuels) withemphasis on thick liquid blankets• Minimize footprint and tritium inventoryof tritium systems• Accelerated subscale testing• Compatibility with advanced power
cycles• Innovations to deal with particle/heatexhaust• Exploit advances in powerelectronics
9A quick recruitment plug: Join the Team that is Transforming theEnergy of Tomorrow
PROGRAM DIRECTORTECHNOLOGY-TO-MARKETADVISORzzz
ü Program development

ü Business development

ü Active project management

ü Technical marketingü Thought leadershipü Explore new technicalareas

FELLOWü Techno-economic analyses
ü Stakeholder outreachü Independent energy
technology development
ü Program Director support
ü Organizational support

Learn more and apply: www.arpa-e.energy.gov/jobs or arpa-e-jobs@hq.doe.gov.

10https://arpa-e.energy.gov

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