Cooperation

Preparations for a demonstration power plant are being pursued world-wide.

Sketch of a tokamak demonstration power plant. From the interior to the exterior: magnet coil for induction of the plasma current (brown), main field coils (lilac), plasma vessel (green), blanket (blue), divertor (magenta), auxiliary coils (brown).

© EFDA

Sketch of a tokamak demonstration power plant. From the interior to the exterior: magnet coil for induction of the plasma current (brown), main field coils (lilac), plasma vessel (green), blanket (blue), divertor (magenta), auxiliary coils (brown).

© EFDA

The know-how gained with ITER is to yield the principles underlying construction of a demonstration power plant (DEMO) that affords all the functions of a power plant. This could be followed up with the first commercial fusion power plant.

The DEMO Studies project was therefore launched at IPP in 2010. They are investigating how the different boundary conditions from physics and technology will affect the design of a future demonstration power plant.

The work within Germany is networked in the German DEMO Working Group, headed by IPP. Besides IPP, it includes the fusion laboratories of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Jülich Research Centre.

Within Europe their work is incorporated in EUROfusion’s Power Plant Physics and Technology programme. World-wide, IPP are represented in the programme committee of a new activity introduced by IAEA, DEMO programming.