CER News:
UCSD to participate in IAEA coordinated research program "Pathways to Energy from Inertial Fusion - an Integrated Approach"

17 August 2006

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the world's center of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.

In 2000, the first coordinated research program (CRP) was started on the topic of inertial fusion energy for civilian purposes. The CRP brought together researchers from throughout the world to encourage growth and collaborations in this field. The mission of that CRP is documented at the CRP web site. The results have been published as an IAEA-TecDoc.

The proposal for a new CRP was accepted by the IAEA's committee for coordinated research activities on 2 March 2006. The CRP will cover research relevant to further development of IFE and enhance awareness in Member States for Beam-Plasma-Matter interaction, developing building blocks for IFE and on IFE Power plants and integration. The purpose of such research is essentially three-fold: firstly, to improve our understanding of the underlying physical processes; secondly, to demonstrate capability and progress; and finally, of key importance to the pursuit of an integrated IFE power plant design, is the need to translate the results of the research into specifications for the facility itself.

The first research coordination meeting (RCM) is scheduled for 6-10 Nov 2007 in Vienna Austria. For more information on this IAEA CRP or the involvement of the UCSD Center for Energy Research, please contact Mark Tillack.