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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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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.
D. T. Goodin et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 1131-1138
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Inertial Fusion Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A838
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A central feature of an Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) power plant is a target that has been compressed and heated to fusion conditions by the energy input of the driver. The technology to economically manufacture and then position cryogenic targets at chamber center is at the heart of future IFE power plants. For direct drive IFE (laser fusion), energy is applied directly to the surface of a spherical CH polymer capsule containing the deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion fuel at approximately 18K. For indirect drive (heavy ion fusion, HIF), the target consists of a similar fuel capsule within a cylindrical metal container or ''hohlraum'' which converts the incident driver energy into x-rays to implode the capsule. For either target, it must be accurately delivered to the target chamber center at a rate of about 5-10Hz, with a precisely predicted target location. Future successful fabrication and injection systems must operate at the low cost required for energy production (about $0.25/target, about 104 less than current costs).Z-pinch driven IFE (ZFE) utilizes high current pulses to compress plasma to produce x-rays that indirectly heat a fusion capsule. ZFE target technologies utilize a repetition rate of about 0.1 Hz with a higher yield.This paper provides an overview of the proposed target methodologies for laser fusion, HIF, and ZFE, and summarizes advances in the unique materials science and technology development programs.