Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid
CHAIR: R. J. HAWRYLUKSTAFF LEAD: CHRIS JONESPUBLIC BRIEFINGFEBRUARY 17, 2021

What is fusion, and why is it important?
Fusion occurs when two light elements combine toform heavier elements and release a large amount ofenergy.
- Powers the sun and other stars
Initiating a fusion reaction requires very hightemperatures and confinement of the plasma.
Generating a self-sustaining plasma would enable
electricity production from fusion.

Image source: DOE

Benefits of Fusion:•••

Non-carbon emitting source of electricity
Dispatchable, firm energy generation
Abundant fuel supplies and minimal long-lived radioactive waste2019 REPORT: Final Report of the Committee on aStrategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research.
Key Recommendations:First, the United States should remain an ITER partneras the most cost-effective way to gain experience witha burning plasma at the scale of a power plant.
Second, the United States should start a national
program of accompanying research and technology
leading to the construction of a compact pilot plantthat produces electricity from fusion at the lowest
possible capital cost.
The second recommendation
motivated this study.

Statement of Task
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) shall assemble acommittee to provide guidance to the U.S. Department of Energy, and others, that are alignedwith the objective of constructing a pilot plant in the United States that produces electricity
from fusion at the lowest possible capital cost (“Pilot Plant”).
The committee shall provide a concise report that addresses the following points:•Establish key goals for all critical aspects of the Pilot Plant, independent of confinement
concept and during each of the plant’s anticipated phases of operation.

•Identify the principal innovations needed from both the private sector and government tomeet those key goals.

•Seek input from potential “future owners” of power plants and potential manufacturers offusion power plant components.

•Characterize the energy market for fusion and provide input on how a fusion pilot plant
could contribute to national energy needs.

NOTE: TASK STATEMENT PARAPHRASED TO FIT ON SLIDECommittee Composition

Richard J.
Hawryluk (Chair)Princeton Plasma
Physics Laboratory

Wanda K. Reder (NAE)
Grid-X Partners

Brenda L. Garcia-Diaz
Savannah River National
Laboratory

David W. Roop (NAE)
DWR Associates, LLC

Gerald L.
Kulcinski (NAE)

Kathryn A.
McCarthy (NAE)

University of
Wisconsin-Madison

Oak Ridge National
Laboratory

Philip Snyder
General Atomics

Per F. Peterson (NAE)

Jeffrey P.
Quintenz

University of California,
Berkeley/ Kairos Power

TechSource, Inc.

Jennifer L. Uhle

Dennis G. Whyte

Brian D. Wirth

Nuclear Energy
Institute

Massachusetts Instituteof Technology

University ofTennessee, KnoxvilleStudy Input• Technical input from NASEM Burning Plasma and APS Community Planning Processreports– Solicited additional input on website– Workforce issues from NASEM Diversity, Equity and Inclusion reports• Presentations by DOE and Congressional staff• Panel discussions with groups from– Power Plant Owners/Utilities– Developers of fusion power plants– National Laboratories– Universities– Manufacturers of components– Regulatory bodies

Key Takeaways
Recommendation: For the United States to be a leader in fusion and to make an
impact on the transition to a low-carbon emission electrical system by 2050, theDepartment of Energy and the private sector should produce net electricity in a fusion
pilot plant in the United States in the 2035—2040 timeframe.
Recommendation: DOE should move forward now to foster the creation of national
teams, including public-private partnerships, that will develop conceptual pilot plantdesigns and technology roadmaps that will lead to an engineering design of a pilot
plant that will bring fusion to commercial viability.
Conclusion: Successful operation of a pilot plant in the 2035—2040 timeframe
requires urgent investments by DOE and private industry — both to resolve theremaining technical and scientific issues, and to design, construct, and commission apilot plant.

Report Outline
1.

Introduction

2.

Role of the pilot plant on the path to commercialization

3.

Goals for a fusion pilot plant

4.

Innovations and research needed to address key fusion pilot
plant goals

5.

Strategy and roadmap for a pilot plantRole of the Pilot Plant:
Future Electricity Generation Market

Utilities foresee a transition to
low-carbon electrical generation by2050.

Firm low-carbon/non-carbon electrical energy
generation will be needed to decrease the cost.

Role of the Pilot Plant:
Non-Carbon Emitting Baseload Energy
Finding: Dispatchable, firm low-carbon and non-carbon emission generation will beneeded in the future for grid support functions and can enhance the movement to alower carbon footprint at a lower cost.
Recommendation: Electricity generation market policy and incentives should
encourage a diversity of energy sources from various firm, low-carbon emission
generation resources including non-carbon emission fusion, in the future for baseload
as part of a national strategy to ensure national security and the lowest cost path to a
low-carbon emission future.

Role of the Pilot Plant:
Provide Technical and Economic Information
Finding: A pilot plant must provide the technical and economic information needed
for utilities to operate future plants. It must be a test to ensure public confidence inthe technology and the success of the commercial plants that will follow.
Recommendation: Due to the evolving energy marketplace, the characteristics of afusion power plant should be periodically reviewed by energy experts and updated toincrease the likelihood that the fusion concept will successfully contribute to theneeds of society.

Strategy and Roadmap

Goals for a Fusion Pilot Plant:
Overall Considerations for Operating Phases
Finding: The pilot plant design will need to be based on a vetted, well-establishedconfinement physics basis for achieving net plasma gain well in excess of unity.
Conclusion: A pilot must produce an amountof fusion power and energy that is
sufficiently representative of the market
needs in order to meet the pilot’s goal ofdemonstrated integrated performance andcost, while also demonstrating net electricity
gain Qe > 1 and produce peak net electrical
power ≥ 50 MWe.

Goals for a Fusion Pilot Plant:
Considerations for Phase 1
Phase 1a- target 100-500 MW time-averaged thermal powerfor ≥100 s- for pulsed concepts, operate at the design
repetition rate for Phase 2
Phase 1b- for D-T fusion, demonstrate production,extraction, and refueling of tritium on a timescalesufficient to maintain reasonable operations- for pulsed concepts, these should be for acomparable time scale of ≥3 hours at the design
repetition rate for Phase 2

Goals for a Fusion Pilot Plant:
Considerations for Phases 2 and 3
Phase 2- demonstrate operation for an environmental
cycle including maintenance- require operation on the order of one fullpower year
Phase 3- demonstrate and improve averageavailability for commercial fusion- provide additional data on the mean time tofailure and replacement time formaterials/components- use for testing advanced materials andtechnology and novel deployment of fusion
to the grid

Goals for a Fusion Pilot Plant:
Economic Considerations
Finding: On the basis of today’s energy market and costs, the fusion First-of-a-Kindpower plant will need to have a total overnight construction cost less than $5 billion
to $6 billion in order to be viable in the present U.S. electrical marketplace with aprojected operation life of at least 40 years for the plant.
Conclusion: A fusion pilot plant should have a generating power >50 MWe and total
overnight construction cost <5-6 B$.

Goals for a Fusion Pilot Plant:
Additional Topics Addressed• Integrated fusion and electric power performance• Materials and manufactured components• Fuel and Ash- D-T fuel cycle – need for tritium breeding- Alternative fuel cycles to D-T• Reliability and availability• Environmental and safety consideration• Regulatory process

Innovation and Research Needs:
Overall Innovation Strategy
Recommendation: To meet the challenge of having a viable design by 2028 and initial
pilot plant operation in the 2035-2040, innovations in fusion confinement concepts
and technology to extract fusion power and close the fusion fuel cycle should bedeveloped in parallel. This will enable the engineering design of a pilot plant and theconstruction decisions to be accelerated by a combination of government and privatefunding.

Innovation and Research Needs:
Fusion Plasma Confinement and Pulse Duration
Fusion triple product vs. plasma duration

Conclusion: Before proceeding to the final
pilot plant design phase, a DT fusion concept
should simultaneously demonstratetemperatures of at least 100 million °C, anda triple product >2 (in units of 1021 keV s m-3)
corresponding to an DT equivalent plasmaenergy gain >1.
Conclusion: For alternate fuels, equivalentparameters needed for net plasma energy
gain must be demonstrated.

Innovation and Research Needs:
Additional Topics Addressed• Scientific and technical innovations and research advances– Fusion performance and plasma confinement– High heat flux challenge: plasma facing components– High temperature superconducting magnets– Structural and function materials: neutron degradation assessment– Closing the fuel cycle: tritium processing, developing a breeding blanket• Many technological elements are at a low level of technical readiness• Participants in developing a pilot plant– Workforce issues including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion• Models for Public-Private Partnerships• ITER contributions to a pilot plant

Strategy and Roadmap

Recommendation: The Department of Energy
should move forward now to foster the creationof national teams, including public-privatepartnerships, that will develop conceptual pilot
plant designs and technology roadmaps and leadto an engineering design of a pilot plant that willbring fusion to commercial viability.

Strategy and Roadmap

Conclusion: If the pilot plant cannot be built
for less than the projected cost of thefirst-of-a-kind power plant or the concept
does not have the potential for producing
electricity at an economically competitive
cost, then further innovations will berequired to reduce the cost and improve theconcept prior to proceeding to construction.

Strategic Risks and Opportunities
Risks• Level of scientific andtechnological readinessresulting in schedule risk
• Schedule will not support
the electricity transition• U.K. or China will be first toput fusion on the grid
• Obtaining public and private
funding

Opportunities

Mitigation• Engagement of the private
sector• Perform R&D in parallelwith design• Impact the transition to
low-carbon emission
electricity• Decision points toevaluate progress• Be a leader in thedevelopment of fusionenergyMoving Forward for Fusion to Power the Grid•

Identified the goals, innovations and a timeline•

Plan is bold and achievable•

U.S. has played a major role in the development of fundamental science for fusion– U.S. can take the lead in this technology or– Let other countries take the leadKey Takeaways
Recommendation: For the United States to be a leader in fusion and to make an
impact on the transition to a low-carbon emission electrical system by 2050, theDepartment of Energy and the private sector should produce net electricity in a fusion
pilot plant in the United States in the 2035—2040 timeframe.
Recommendation: DOE should move forward now to foster the creation of national
teams, including public-private partnerships, that will develop conceptual pilot plantdesigns and technology roadmaps that will lead to an engineering design of a pilot
plant that will bring fusion to commercial viability.
Conclusion: Successful operation of a pilot plant in the 2035—2040 timeframe
requires urgent investments by DOE and private industry — both to resolve theremaining technical and scientific issues, and to design, construct, and commission apilot plant.

Any Questions?
For more information, please visit the study website at
http://nas.edu/fusion