Research Councils' Energy Programme : Review of Fusion for Energy Research
The EPSRC and STFC have established a project to carry out a full review of the UK fusion for energy programme. The review will take place over the coming months and will be completed by December 2009.
The overall aims of this review are to:
- Establish a 20 year vision for the Research Councils’ support of UK fusion as an energy source (covering inertial and magnetic confinement fusion) in the international context
- Consider options for the UK domestic fusion programme and ownership of the Culham site from the perspective of the Research Councils
- Recommend to EPSRC Council the way forward for the MAST Upgrade including the exact funding levels and timings needed
- Develop a forward strategy for the Research Councils’ Energy Programme support for fusion
In order to assist EPSRC and STFC in developing the 20 year vision document for the UK fusion for energy programme, an Expert Group has been established under the Chairmanship of Professor Keith Burnett, University of Sheffield. The other members of the Expert Group are:
- Dr Francis Kovacs, CEA Cadarache
- Dr Christopher Keane, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Professor Carlos Alejaldre, ITER
- Professor Raymond Fonck, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Professor Fritz Wagner, Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
- John Loughhead, UKERC
- Philip Sharman, Alstom Power Systems
- Professor John Chapman, University of Glasgow
The terms of reference for the Expert Group can be found here. The 20 year vision document will be based on currently available national and international strategies and roadmaps and interviews with key players in the area, including UK businesses that may benefit from a UK fusion programme. The 20 year vision document will be published on the RCUK website once complete.
Request for Written Input
We are seeking the views of individuals and organisations with an involvement in fusion and have launched an on-line survey (link opens in a new window)to capture these (the closing date for input is 17:00 on Friday 18th September 2009).
The Research Councils' Energy Programme covers all energy related projects funded by the individual research councils.
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Page last updated: 17 August 2009
by Julia Short
