• 커뮤니티
  • 세미나/콜로퀴움
세미나/콜로퀴움

PHYSICS/BK21 SEMINAR (08/11/12)

본문

"“Current Status in Laser Fusion Energy Research”

  
Speaker : Prof. Milan Kalal [Czech Tech. University]
Place : Physics Seminar Room (Science Bldg, 3-201)
Date & Time : Nov,  12(Wed)  2:00  ~  3:00 pm

ABSTRACT:

In 1958 the historic Second International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy took place in the Palace of Nations in Geneva. This Conference opened the door for the real and unrestricted international collaboration in the field of fusion energy research using sophisticated magnetic field structures for keeping very hot plasmas together in devices like tokamaks and stellarators. This became known under the acronym Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) or Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE). Later on, when lasers were discovered, the second branch of the fusion research was born. Having no means for keeping very hot plasmas together, but inertia, this became known as the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) or Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). Due to military applications of high power lasers, this new branch of fusion energy research never enjoyed the same level of international cooperation as MFE. As a result of that its funding mostly remained at the national level. In trying to promote much needed international collaboration even for the IFE (at the same time testing the intentions and good will of those involved in this field of research) the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna opened in 2001 a new IFE oriented Coordinated Research Project (CRP). This project gradually became one of the most successful IAEA CRP with practically all major players involved (presently featuring about 27 research institutes from 19 countries). This year (i.e. exactly half a century since 1958) at the same place the 22nd IAEA Fusion Energy Conference took place. From about 600 papers 90 percent were MFE related. Majority of reported research performed at individual tokamaks has been closely related to the needs of the MFE flagship - International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) - to be built in Cadarache (France) and becoming operational as a test facility by 2016. It is fair to emphasize that this would be still decades before any MFE commercialization. However, to everybody’s great surprise, the new IFE related project -Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy (LIFE) - was also presented. This hybrid once-through “complete” burn-up closed fuel cycle based on parameters currently available at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), presently the pilot LLNL project, should be able to give power on the grid by 2020!!!. If successful, this project could provide enough energy for the next 200 years without any need for building new burn-up nuclear fuel depositories. This should provide a much needed buffer time for development of pure fusion energy power plants with MFE based ones as the backbone sources and the IFE ones as the peak energy supplies. The presentation itself will be predominantly focused on IFE related current issues

Contact Person : Prof. Dong-Eon Kim(054-279-2089, Kimd@postech.ac.kr)"
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