FUSION ENERGY A Compelling Opportunity for Alberta Allan Offenberger/Finance Committee Alberta/Canada Fusion Energy Program Presentation to Standing Committee on Resources & Environment – March 2009

Fusion Energy - Nature’s Choice Imagine an energy source – universal, abundant, clean (water, He) Imagine – proof-of-principle experiments within 2 years Imagine – demonstration of power production in 20 years Imagine Alberta – leader in clean fusion energy development and global supplier of fusion technology

Alberta Fusion Proposal The Proposal: Alberta implement & fund a fusion energy program – fits Alberta priorities (energy/environment/economy) The Opportunity: –establish Alberta leadership and base in Phase I to launch national program in Phase II –leverage international working relationships & investment –develop a US/Canada fusion energy/environment protocol –gain significant socio-economic benefits from fusion as an overarching energy/environment technology The Funding: Phase I ~$21M over 3 years ($4M first year) –urgent decision needed to participate in US campaign

Issues - Challenges & Opportunities Energy/environment challenge – demand/supply/clean energy Fusion, an ultimate energy source – why the world wants it Achieving fusion – conditions, approaches, status, future Fusion R&D – spin-offs from a high technology driver Alberta opportunity – leadership & socio-economic benefits Implementation – strategy, funding, international protocols

Energy Demand/Supply Challenge To obtain just 1 CMO in 50 years from various sources requires: – coal: 2 power plants/wk – nuclear (fission): 1 power plant/wk – solar (thermal): 3 power plants/wk – solar (PV): 250,000 rooftop installs/day – wind: 1,200 turbines/wk – biodiesel: 85 times annual world soybean production – oilsands: 1.5 million barrels/day Data From “Energy & Capital“ Newsletter (Nov 21/08) Current Oil Used Annually: ~ 1CMO (1 cu mile oil) Total Energy Used Annually: ~ 3 CMO Cumulative Energy Demand to 2050: ~ 270 CMO > carbon fuels 1mile

Energy/Environment Challenge Electricity, Greenhouse Gases (GHG) & Climate Change Demand for clean electrical power generation: (>40TW by 2100) Climate Change Limits: CO 2 and other GHG limits Carbon Fuel Limits: projections of peak coal by ~2025 World needs all “clean” energy alternatives to meet future demand: limited options & long lead-times (20-40 years) Non-Carbon solutions (only 3): fusion, fission breeders, renewable

Fuel/Waste Processing Challenge Daily fuel consumption & waste production for 1GWe Coal plant Fission plant (U) Fusion plant (D,T) Fuel ~ 10,000T ~77kg ~ 0.27kg D ~ 0.82kg Li 6 (0.41kg T) Waste ~ 30,000T CO 2 ~77kg ~ 1.09kg He (“ash”) ~ 600T SO 2 (advantage fusion) ~ 40T NO x ~ 600T fly ash

Issues - Challenges & Opportunities Energy/environment context – demand/supply/clean energy Fusion, an ultimate energy source – why the world wants it Achieving fusion – conditions, approaches, status, future Fusion R&D – spin-offs from a high technology driver Alberta opportunity – leadership & socio-economic benefits Implementation – strategy, funding, international protocols

Fusion Efficiently Converts Mass to Energy A 100 Ton Coal Hopper Runs a 1GWe Power Plant for Min Same Hopper Filled With IFE Targets Runs it For 7 Years Source: General Atomic

Fusion Energy - Why The World Likes It Abundant fuel supply (D in water and Li on land and sea) No risk of nuclear accident (no public evacuation in vicinity of plant) No GHG or air pollution (He 4 is the only “ash”) No radioactive fusion products No production of weapons material Fusion consumes less fuel mass per unit energy than any other source – less resource investment, impact on environment (finding, producing)

Fusion Energy - Why It Is Important Fusion is one of few sustainable, GHG-free solutions for fueling central power plants –fission (sustainable only with fuel breeding) –fusion (sustainable, primary energy source, electricity/hydrogen) –renewables (sustainable, secondary energy source) Potential applications –base-load electric power generation –production of hydrogen/synthetic fuels –heat for chemical processing, etc. –desalination of sea-water –clean-up fission waste (transmutation of radioactive nuclides) –production of fissile fuel for fission reactors –hazardous waste processing Alberta relevant

Issues - Challenges & Opportunities Energy/environment context – demand/supply/clean energy Fusion, an ultimate energy source – why the world wants it Achieving fusion – conditions, approaches, status, future Fusion R&D – spin-offs from a high technology driver Alberta opportunity – leadership & socio-economic benefits Implementation – strategy, funding, international protocols

Fusion Reactions - Conditions/Approaches Must heat (deuterium, tritium) fuel to high temperature: – fusion reaction D + T = n + He + energy – ignition temperature: T ign  100 million deg C – burning occurs when heating is self-sustained (by helium) Must confine hot fuel for sufficient time to achieve net energy: – Lawson criterion: n   m -3 sec (density n, confinement time  ) – two confinement approaches: (i) magnetic; (ii) inertial – inertial fusion energy (IFE) uses lasers to ignite fuel pellets by: (i) central ignition; (ii) fast ignition

Inertial Fusion - Fuel Ignition/Burn Two pathways – central and fast ignition Heat Helium Ignition laser

Inertial Fusion – Global Initiative NIF GA OMEGA NRL ILE SG-II SG-IIICAT ARZAMAS-16RAL AWE LULI LMJ S NIF-LLNL LMJ-CEA FIREX-ILE HiPER-RAL OMEGA-UR HAPL-NRL Map: General Atomics ?? HiPER