Beyond ITER - next steps in fusion power

摘要

Nuclear fusion took an important step forward last month with the beginning of the assembly phase of the experimentalfusion reactor ITER at Cadarache, near Marseille. It was a humble start for a momentous event: the first completed component was transferred into the fusion machine's ultimate location. Over the next five years, increasingly complex parts will make the journey inside the concrete walls that will enclose what is planned to be the first reactor to achieve self-sustaining fusion - what's known as a "burning plasma". At this point, however, many of the components have not yet been completed.