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Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Fusion energy’

(2004/C 302/07)

On 29 January 2004, the European Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 29(2) of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an opinion on ‘Fusion energy’.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 10 June 2004. The rapporteur was Mr Wolf.

At its 410th plenary session of 30 June and 1 July 2004 (meeting of 30 June), the Committee adopted the following opinion by 141 votes in favour, with nine abstentions:

This opinion supplements earlier Committee opinions on energy and research policy. It looks at the development of nuclear fusion reactors and their expected safety and environmental benefits. It does that against the backdrop of the global energy issue. The R&D work required is briefly outlined and assessed. The opinion also considers the European position in the current negotiations on the siting of ITER.

Table of contents:

1.   The energy issue

2.   Nuclear energy — nuclear fission and nuclear fusion

3.   Developments to date

4.   Fusion power plant: the way ahead

5.   The siting of ITER

6.   Summary and the Committee's recommendations

Brussels, 30 June 2004.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH

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(1)  Energy is not consumed, but merely converted and, in the process, used. That happens through conversion processes such as coal combustion, the conversion of wind energy into electricity, and nuclear fission (conservation of energy; E = mc2). However, the terms ‘energy supply’, ‘energy generation’ and ‘energy consumption’ are also used.

(2)  Promoting renewable energy: Means of action and financing instruments; Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of cogeneration based on a useful heat demand in the internal energy market; Draft proposal for a Council Directive (Euratom) setting out basic obligations and general principles on the safety of nuclear installations and Draft proposal for a Council Directive (Euratom) on the management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The issues involved in using nuclear power in electricity generation.

(3)  Green Paper: Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply.

(4)  Research needs for a safe and sustainable energy supply.

(5)  Research needs for a safe and sustainable energy supply, points 2.1.3 et seq.

(6)  The overall problem was foreshadowed by previous oil crises (e.g. in 1973 and 1979) and the current controversy — centred on the trade-off between economy and environment — about the allocation of emissions certificates.

(7)  Point 7.4 of Committee opinion says: ‘The Committee therefore recommends that the Commission draw up an integrated European energy research strategy, from which a comprehensive future European energy research programme will be derived.’

(8)  As a result serious fuel shortages are expected to occur sooner.

(9)  The issues involved in using nuclear power in electricity generation.

(10)  Atoms of the same element, but with different mass (different number of neutrons in the nucleus).

(11)  The issues involved in using nuclear power in electricity generation.

(12)  Although short, perhaps hourly interruptions in the fusion process alone may be necessary.

(13)  Helium has an extremely stable nucleus and is chemically inert (hence its classification as a ‘noble gas’).

(14)  Typically 1 000 km/sec.

(15)  Radiotoxicity is a measure of the radiation damage caused by a radionuclide entering the human organism.

(16)  At these temperatures, a gas is fully ionised (i.e. the negatively charged electrons are no longer bound in the atomic shell, but move freely like the positively charged nuclei), and is thus an electricity-conducting medium that can, among other ways, be confined by magnetic fields. This state is called plasma.

(17)  Thermonuclear burning is explained in point 3.9.

(18)  Quotation original English.

(19)  Rev. Mod. Phys. 28, 338 (1956).

(20)  Quotation original English

(21)  Toroidal = ring-shaped.

(22)  Designed using a variant of the tokamak principle.

(23)  JET was thus a realisation of the method forecast by Bhabha, thereby confirming his prediction.

(24)  Originally the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, but today a name in its own right.

(25)  Plasma–wall interaction

(26)  In other words, ten times more energy is generated in the fusion plasma than is put in through special instruments such as high-performance neutral beam injectors or high-frequency emitters.

(27)  According to COM(2003) 215 final, the cost of the ITER construction phase is estimated at EUR 4,570 million (at 2000 values).

(28)  See, for instance, Spin-off benefits from fusion R&D EUR 20229-Fusion energy-Moving forward ISBN 92-894-4721-4 and the brochure Making a difference of the Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB, UK.

(29)  Lack of space precludes a detailed description of the complex and volatile political history of the project.

(30)  Particular mention must be made here of the stellarator.

(31)  For comparison: a brown-coal power plant requires around 1 000 t of brown coal.

(32)  1 gigawatt (GW) equals 1,000 megawatts (MW)

(33)  Lithium may be extracted from certain rocks, salt lake brines, geothermal and mineral water sources, water pumped from oilfields, and seawater. With the stocks currently known to be available, it would be possible to meet current total world energy requirements ten times over for many thousands of years.

(34)  For comparison: a brown-coal power plant with the same output emits around 1 000 t of CO2.

(35)  Excluding initial requirements on set-up which can be obtained, for example, from heavy water moderated fission reactors (Canada).

(36)  Near Aix-en-Provence, north-east of Marseilles, France.

(37)  In northern Japan.

(38)  or energy release/time

(39)  ‘...enhancing the development of the fusion option.’

(40)  Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament — Researchers in the European Research Area: one profession, multiple careers.

(41)  China, Japan and (South) Korea.

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