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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
IAEA again raises global nuclear power projections
Noting recent momentum behind nuclear power, the International Atomic Energy Agency has revised up its projections for the expansion of nuclear power, estimating that global nuclear operational capacity will more than double by 2050—reaching 2.6 times the 2024 level—with small modular reactors expected to play a pivotal role in this high-case scenario.
IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the new projections, contained in the annual report Energy, Electricity, and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050 at the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.
In the report’s high-case scenario, nuclear electrical generating capacity is projected to increase to from 377 GW at the end of 2024 to 992 GW by 2050. In a low-case scenario, capacity rises 50 percent, compared with 2024, to 561 GW. SMRs are projected to account for 24 percent of the new capacity added in the high case and for 5 percent in the low case.
M. H. Key, R. R. Freeman, S. P. Hatchett, A. J. MacKinnon, P. K. Patel, R. A. Snavely, R. B. Stephens
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 3 | April 2006 | Pages 440-452
Technical Paper | Fast Ignition | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1160
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fast ignition by a laser-generated, ballistically focused proton plasma jet is a more recently proposed alternative to the original concept of fast ignition by a laser-generated beam of relativistic electrons. It has potential advantages in less-complex energy transport into dense plasma but has been investigated only at a preliminary level. Recent successful target heating experiments motivate further investigation of its feasibility. The concept and requirements, the characteristics of the proton plasma jets, the recent experimental work on focusing the jets and heating solid targets, and the overall physics constraints and unresolved questions are discussed.
