#110 Open Letter to Editors of New Scientist

Feb. 18, 2022

Richard Webb, Executive Editor, New Scientist
Emily Wilson, Editor, New Scientist

Dear Editors,

In several news articles, New Scientist has published inaccurate information about the purpose and primary design objective of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

Examples:

• “For 50 MW of input power, ITER will generate 500 MW of output power.” (Roger Highfield, Valerie Jamieson, Neil Calder and Robert Arnoux, Oct. 9, 2009)
• “[ITER is] aiming to get about 10 times more energy out of the fusion reaction than they put in. That will prove fusion energy is possible.” (Sean O’Neill quoting Melanie Windridge, Sept. 15, 2018)
• “That might change in 2025, when the world’s biggest fusion project, ITER in France, is due to switch on. The hope is it will turn 50 megawatts of power into 500MW, proving a net gain is possible.” (Adam Vaughan, Dec. 2, 2020)
• “The plan is to create 500 megawatts of usable energy from an input of 50 megawatts.” (Matthew Sparkes, June 15, 2021)

ITER Power Facts

ITER is designed to inject 50 megawatts of heating power into the fuel to create a fusion plasma with 500 megawatts of thermal power. That is its primary scientific purpose and design objective, according to the ITER Design Specification published by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2002.

If ITER accomplishes that objective, the overall reactor will use at least 300 megawatts of electricity continuously throughout the experiment. Since 2017, some fusion scientists have started saying that the ITER reactor will need 50 megawatts to start the reaction. That is not the same as the power needed to start the reactor, which is 500 megawatts of electricity.

On this Web page, I list 11 sources that describe the operating power requirement for ITER in the 300-megawatt range. I list three references that are in the 400-megawatt range.

These facts mean that the overall ITER reactor, if it works as designed, will not produce net power or net energy.

JET Power Facts

The ITER power discrepancy was a direct successor to the JET power discrepancy. Here’s an example of the false power claims about JET, published on March 12, 2018, in the Guardian: “[JET] remains the gold standard for fusion power – but it achieved just 16 MW of output for 25 MW of input.”

JET’s 1997 result still holds the record for power output. But the 16-megawatt output needed an input of 700 megawatts. Full technical details about both reactors are here.

For Your Readers 

The ITER organization claims that the ITER reactor will “prove that fusion power can be produced on a commercial scale and is sustainable.” It says that the project “aims to demonstrate that it is possible to produce commercial energy from fusion.”

With a projected net power loss for the overall reactor, the upper management of the organization knows that they cannot possibly deliver such promises.

Perhaps your readers would appreciate learning the facts now.

Steven B. Krivit
Publisher and Senior Editor, New Energy Times