The European Pathway to Laser Energy Dr. Chris Edwards HiPER
Fusion Project Director [email protected] www.hiper.org
Slide 2
Outline STFC: The home of HiPER HiPER: Europes other fusion
energy project Europe: Capability, Complexity & Constraints
Aspirations and Relationships Funding prospects and the importance
of ignition at NIF Discussion
Slide 3
STFC: Home of HiPER STFC: Science & Technology Facilities
Council Funded via Research Councils UK by Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS) Science Minister David Willetts STFC
operates large scale facilities (VULCAN laser, telescopes, ISIS
spallation neutron source, Diamond synchrotron, HPC
infrastructures) for university researchers and manages UK
contributions to CERN, etc.,..... STFC (Mike Dunne) invented HiPER.
STFC funded partners technical work for 3 years; E.C. funded
coordination & governance for (3 + 2) years (to April 2013)....
but neither ITER nor JET (via EURATOM from E.C. and EPSRC)
Slide 4
HiPER: Europes other fusion energy project Before LIFE there
was HiPER HiPER brings together 9 funding agencies and 17 other
partners across Europe HiPER is an ESFRI project (European Strategy
Forum on Res. Infrastructures)
Slide 5
26 European Partners Funding Agency involvement by 9 partners
STFC (UK) CEA, CNRS and CRA (France) MSMT (Czech Republic) GSRT
(Greece) MEC and CAM (through UPM) (Spain) ENEA and CNR (Italy)
Institutional involvement by 17 other partners IST Lisbon
(Portugal) CNSIM (Italy) TEI, TUC(Greece) IOP-PALS (Czech Republic)
IPPLM (Poland) FVB, FSU Jena, GSI, TUD (Germany) Lebedev Physical
Institute, (Russia) Institute of Applied Physics-RAS Imperial
College London, (UK) Universities of York, Oxford, Strathclyde,
Queens Belfast
Slide 6
HiPER: Europes other fusion energy project Before LIFE there
was HiPER HiPER was conceived in ~ 2006/7 as the next step to laser
driven commercial fusion energy following First Ignition
demonstration at NIF HiPER has developed a delivery strategy that
satisfies current constraints: financial, technical & political
HiPER brings together 9 funding agencies and 17 other partners
across Europe HiPER is an ESFRI project (European Strategy Forum on
Res. Infrastructures) The project was re-scoped in 2009; 10Hz laser
driver; full blanket to capture fusion neutrons; electricity
generation. (Many implications!)
Slide 7
NowRoll-out Delivery Strategy Technology Dev t. & Risk Red
n. Laser: 10kJ / 10Hz beamline prototype; Target mass prod.;
Chamber concept HiPER construction & commissioning Single major
facility construction step to deliver laser energy HiPER NIF
Ignition LMJ Ignition LMJ available Robust ignition; physics
optimisation Invest. decision Exploitation HiPER B. C.
Slide 8
Europes other fusion energy project Before LIFE there was HiPER
HiPER was conceived in ~ 2006/7 as the next step to laser driven
commercial fusion energy following First Ignition demonstration at
NIF HiPER has a developed a delivery strategy that satisfies
current constraints: financial, technical & political HiPER
brings together 9 funding agencies and 17 other partners across
Europe This schedule is not ideal, but it is credible, keeps
partners engaged and preserves options in the pre NIF ignition era
HiPER is an ESFRI project (European Strategy Forum on Res.
Infrastructures)
Slide 9
Extensive nuclear power industry; EDF, Areva, etc Europe:
Capability, Complexity & Constraints U.K. Atomic Weapons
Establishment (AWE) maintains UK deterrent: France Capability
(simplified) STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory: Nuclear power
industry (declined); AMEC, RR, BAE Systems, NNL, etc. CEA:NIF-like
LMJ (on-line 2015 16) and associated capabilities Host organisation
for ITER Carbon neutral energy mission; GEN-IV development, solar,
etc. Orion laser facility, HPC, tritium, in-house HED science
programme, physics codes. Working to add fusion energy to its
mission VULCAN laser facility, HPC, centre for DPSSL laser
development, HED science programme in partnership with UK
university groups
Slide 10
Europe: Capability, Complexity & Constraints Czech
Republic: ELI Beamlines Capability (simplified) One of three large
laser projects which comprise the Extreme Light Infrastructure
(ELI), funded largely from E.U. Structural Funds Other projects of
similar scale are starting in Hungary and Romania These facilities
require a new laser technology; high efficiency, high repetition
rate (>10Hz) and high power...... also the requirement for the
laser driver for inertial fusion energy Contracts between IoP
Prague and U.K. (CLF) and U.S. (LLNL) are driving the development
of this DPSSL technology
Slide 11
Europe: Capability, Complexity & Constraints MFE programme,
JET and ITER (under construction) LIFE and HiPER programmes will
validate all the physics, engineering, technology and commercial
viability of fusion power via single, major facility build using
existing materials Complexity & Constraints UK works on both
schemes; indirect drive is outside of HiPER scope ITER will not
have a full blanket or tritium cycle; larger machines required for
commercial power production will introduce physics unknowns, plasma
stability, materials issues Extreme sensitivity over IFE / MFE
delivery schedule Physics design for IFE based on X-ray (indirect)
drive (NIF) requires access to computer codes that are not in the
public domain HiPER Executive Board determined an ignition physics
strategy based on direct drive (shock ignition) to be demonstrated
at LMJ ~ 2022 Demonstration of ignition at NIF is likely to change
this landscape
Slide 12
The struggle for existence is the struggle for available
energy. Energy Ludwig Boltzmann (attrib), 1886 Affordable Security
of supply Environmentally responsible
Slide 13
Aspirations & Relationships UK has the opportunity to be on
the supply side of IFE through laser technology, fuel capsule
design and manufacture, etc. AWE is actively seeking an energy
remit, supported (not funded) by MoD; AWEs Board has agreed to
co-fund start-up programme STFC, AWE and Livermore have signed an
MoU to collaborate on IFE; announced by BIS Minister David Willetts
and Ed Moses at an IFE event at Royal Society in London An
inter-Gov t. agreement on IFE is possible following ignition U.K.
STFC has a long history of collaboration on ICF with Japan. MoU and
staff exchanges, etc.
Slide 14
Aspirations & Relationships France (CEA) partnered with US
on production of NIF & LMJ laser glass and other components LMJ
beam time will be available for academic access and HiPER, from
2016 France France and UK are collaborating on defence procurement;
CEA and AWE are developing joint facilities Local Government in
Bordeaux region is contributing additional capability to LMJ which
can be used for HiPER relevant research Keeping options open; CEA
maintaining influence
Slide 15
President Sarkozy visits LMJ 14 th October 2010 LMJ to be used
for energy research By choosing to build the PETAL laser next to
the Laser MegaJoule, we open the way to explore a new type of
energy
Slide 16
Funding Prospects HiPER Preparatory Phase was funded by EC
(coordination & governance); STFC and MSMT funded technical
work STFC is funding continued coordination and governance until
April 2014.... Technical work is funded on a national basis Funding
from E.C. is likely beyond 2014 within Horizon 2020 programme
Ignition at NIF is likely to unlock substantial funding, at least
in UK and France Laser technology in UK, France & Czech
Republic Physics modeling in UK, France & Italy Systems
engineering in France & Spain Materials and chamber design in
Spain... beyond April 14, STFC will fund 50%; seeking 50% from
partners in return for representation on the HiPER Steering
Board
Slide 17
+ + + D + T + + Hen Fuel sustainability Li 6 + n slow He 4
+T3T3 + 4.8 MeV Li 7 + n fast He 4 +T3T3 + 2.466 MeV n slow - 7%
93% Also neutron breeding from 207 Pb (or 9 Be) (n,2n) reactions
Fuel D: 115 ppm in seawater; chemical extraction TBR >1.1 Li:
abundant in earths crust Castle Bravo (1954) yielded 15MT compared
to a predicted 5MT
Slide 18
Power Plant Materials for 1 TWe (DRAFT)
MaterialUseConsumptionInventoryProductionReserve DeuteriumFuel95
t/yrSmall140 t/yr2.310 13 t TritiumFuel143 t/yr?N/A
HeliumCryogenics Turbine fluid LithiumCoolant?25000 t/yr2.310 11 t
3 H production3800 t/yr Berylliumn 0 breeding340 t/yr349000 t340
t/yr80000-485000 t GalliumLaser diodes ArsenicLaser diodes
YttriumLaser host155 t/yr3100 t7000 t/yr425000 t IndiumLaser diodes
XenonChamber gas?1370 m 3 5000-7000 m 3 /yr3.510 11 m 3
YtterbiumLaser material100 t/yr2000 t50 t/yr110 6 t TungstenFirst
wall240 t/yr24000 t58000 t/yr2.810 6 t GoldTarget cones500
t/yrSmall2350 t/yr470000 t Leadn 0 breeding17600 t/yr?410 6
t/yr1.510 9 t Target cones7000 t/yrSmall
Slide 19
Economic Analyses Role of laser energy as part of the energy
mix Value of security of supply & first to market advantage
Cost of electricity (/kWh) & dependencies Rate and cost of
build Investment & funding scenarios (NPV, DCF, debt, ) Impact
of carbon (obligations, taxing, ) Economic Impact on the
collaborating nations Industrial sector impact and alignment
Exploitation of spin-off technology development Laser energy must
be commercially and technologically viable Many aspects to be
assessed Studies in progress; no show stoppers identified so far
High gain ignition scheme and > 10 Hz repetition rate
Slide 20
Slide20 UK Electricity Production
Slide 21
Slide21 2 GW coal station at Didcot closed in March 13 UK is
facing high probability of power cuts in 2015
Slide 22
45km Solar bio-mass (Hydro is twice this size; Geo-thermal is
30 times this size ) Wind (onshore) Wind (offshore) Tidal Solar
(PV) DJC McKay (2009) Energy formEnergy Density (W/m 2 ) Onshore
wind2 Offshore wind3 Solar (photovoltaic) 10 Solar biomass0.5
Tidal3 Hydro0.24 Geothermal0.017 Fission/fusion1000 22 For 1GWe
Renewable energy in UK requires space! fusion, fission, (or
coal!)
Slide 23
UK Energy Realities There are options for the future, but they
come with difficult choices Requires ignition at NIF, long term
political vision and investor support.... followed by a fission
reactor build programme in the medium term........ or a huge
scale-up of renewables supported by feed-in subsidies Fusion could
solve our energy needs beyond 2050 In the short term, UK is
committed to replace coal with gas (from Norway & Eastern
Europe; lpg from Qatar) Progress to date is encouraging!
Slide 24
Laser Energy SWOT analysis Strengths 1. Deliverable on "energy
relevant" timescale 2. Separability enables parallel development 3.
Physics can be demonstrated at full scale at NIF & LMJ 4. <
1kg Tritium inventory 5. Sustainable 6. Inherently (comparatively?)
safe Weaknesses 1. Laser driver scalability not yet demonstrated 2.
Mass production of fuel capsules to quality and cost 3. Novel
material may be required for first wall (HiPER) 4. Commercial
viability not yet demonstrated 5. "Fusion is always 50 years away!"
Opportunities 1.Technology has high, immediate exploitation
potential 2.First wall has no containment function 2. Use of
existing, qualified materials simplifies licensing 3. High reaction
temperature enables chemical processes Threats 1. First Ignition"
is not assured 2.Laser diode cost reduction not yet demonstrated 3.
Political focus on renewables 4. Difficult economic environment for
R & D funding
