ITER Fusion Reactor: Historical Resources
Return to ITER Power Facts Main Page
Fusion Power: An Assessment of Ultimate Potential, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, by Robert Hirsch (Feb. 1973)
“The objective of controlled thermonuclear research (CTR) is the development of practical fusion reactors for production of electrical and thermal energy in large central station installations. At present the principal program task is to demonstrate that a plasma of light nuclei can be confined at sufficient temperature and density for a long enough period of time to release more energy by means of a controlled thermonuclear fusion process than was required to create the plasma.” [Emphasis added]
[NOTE: Hirsch’s claim was accurate. However, the part I highlight in bold is the same objective scientists have now (62+ years later) for the ITER reactor when it is scheduled to begin using DT fuel circa 2035. In 2015, Hirsch changed his mind about the feasibility of tokamak fusion.]
The Role of the Compact Ignition Tokamak in the U.S. Fusion Program – October 1987 (Never built)
“The central line of advance in the U.S. magnetic fusion program plan is presently the step-by-step development of D-T reactor-plasma capabilities: first, breakeven in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), then ignition in the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT), then long-pulse, high-duty-cycle D-T burning in an internationally supported Engineering Te3t Reactor (ETR) such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which is currently entering its conceptual design phase.”
“Establishment of ITER: Relevant Documents” IAEA, 1988
IAEA, “ITER Physics,” ITER DOCUMENTATION SERIES No. 21, (May 1991) IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency ITER Design Specification (2002)
Primary design objective and mission:
PDF Page 16: “achieve extended burn in inductively driven plasmas with the ratio of fusion power to auxiliary heating power of at least 10.”
PDF Page 61: “The nominal inductive operation produces a DT fusion power of 500 MW for a burn length of 400 s, with the injection of 50 MW of auxiliary power.”
International Atomic Energy Agency ITER Design Objectives and Mission Excerpt (2002)
Agreement on the Establishment of the ITER International Fusion Energy Organization for the Joint Implementation of the ITER Project Informally known as “The ITER Agreement” (25 April 2007)