Fusion Energy Week begins today
Excitement around fusion has only grown this year since the French magnetic confinement fusion tokamak known as WEST maintained a plasma for 1,337 seconds in February, toppling the 1,006-second record set by China’s EAST a few weeks prior. Investment, legislation, and new research are riding this new surge of attention, but fusion development has a long history.
The U.S. Fusion Outreach Team traces fusion development back to the doctoral research of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who discovered that stars, including our sun, are mostly made of hydrogen and helium. This in turn led to the understanding that those elements are the “fuel” of potential fusion energy systems on Earth. Considering Payne-Gaposchkin’s doctoral thesis was published in 1925, this year could be considered the 100th anniversary of fusion development.
In celebration of the past, present, and future of nuclear fusion, the U.S. Fusion Outreach Team organized an annual Fusion Energy Week in recognition of Payne-Gaposchkin’s birthday, May 10. A “grassroots celebration of fusion energy,” Fusion Energy Week begins today and ends May 10.
Check the complete list of Fusion Energy Week events for virtual and in-person events around the nation—including trivia, tours, meetups, and much more.
A brief history: After Payne-Gaposchkin published her doctoral research, British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington theorized in 1926 that stars produce energy from the fusion of hydrogen to helium, according to U.S. Fusion Energy. In 1958, during the second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, government-sponsored fusion research was formally disclosed, and the International Atomic Energy Agency was charged with encouraging global research collaboration.
The U.S. entered a “golden age” of fusion in the 1970s that was marked by broad governmental support for future power plants and significant international collaboration. That golden age was cut short by lean times in the 1980s that saw the U.S. shift its focus away from fusion research.
Today’s progress: Between the collaborative work being done among 35 countries at ITER, new legislative support in the U.S. and abroad, and private industry investment, it’s clear that we are in the midst of a renaissance in the fusion world. The U.S. Fusion Outreach Team says that “the global consensus that we need fusion energy has never been more substantial” and calls for more support. “While the United States invests in novel public-private partnerships to spur national industry, among other strategies, we need more support to accelerate the fusion timeline,” U.S. Fusion Outreach said.
Get involved: Fusion Energy Week is designed to connect the public with people working in fusion energy around the world. Some highlights from this year’s events include the following:
- A virtual tour featuring immersive visualizations of EPFL’s variable-configuration tokamak, including live simulations of plasma within the reactor.
- A fusion 101 webinar with Thea Energy.
- A career pathways and networking panel with CleanTech Alliance.
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