Pictures of the Future    Spring 2006

This Way to the Sun

Cadarache, in the summer of 2015. One year before commissioning of the ITER fusion reactor, the energy ministers of the countries participating in this major research project are visiting the facility in France.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the heart of the facility," says the ITER fusion reactor's energy manager, Dr. Günther Obermeyer, pointing to the reactor's closed outer shell, which looms 30 m above him into the sunny sky of Cadarache in southern France.

"In exactly one year, a plasma will be ignited here for the first time ever. When that happens, the fire of the sun will burn here on Earth." Obermeyer pauses dramatically. "As you know, ITER is the Latin word for 'road.' And our project here is an important step on the road toward the peaceful use of fusion energy..." "And a very expensive and long road it's been too," mumbles one of the participants to his Russian colleague.

"Please excuse me, sir," says Professor Takashi Murase, the Japanese director of the ITER research center, who has overheard this remark. Obviously, he is the only one. The ministers from China, South Korea, Japan and some EU countries, as well as the observers from the Arab League and the African Union, continue to stare at the facility with awe as if nothing had happened.

Murase bows slightly. "Compared with the cost of the space program, which has made only a modest contribution to solving the world's energy problems, the nearly 5 bill. € we've spent on the reactor is not extravagant. We have a saying in Japan, 'Nothing comes for free,'" he says with a smile. "Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Obermeyer, our facility's operating costs will be lower than the 270 mill. € per year that had been planned."

At this point, Dr. Obermeyer continues his speech. "We need a great deal of energy here. To give you just one example, we have gigantic magnets that confine the electrically conductive plasma. In this way, we can bring the atoms of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium so close together that they fuse. We've worked out a comprehensive concept to save as much energy as possible. Smart electric drives that use a minimum of electricity are a key component of this concept. Let me give you a few examples. Just look out the window. The ship that brings us components on the Cadence River is powered by a compact electric motor with superconducting coils. Our vehicle fleet, which includes many of our employees' private cars, consists of hybrid vehicles whose latest generation consumes only 2 l of diesel per 100 km. And the lifting platform over there is driven by small piezo motors that deliver extremely high torque and don't use any electricity when not in operation. But these are modest contributions compared to the savings we've achieved with the electrical systems here in the building. As you know, ITER was not designed to supply energy. That's why it has no technology for generating steam that could drive turbines. As a result, we need additional heating of almost 75 MW to keep the plasma, which has a temperature of several million degrees Celsius, burning over a long period of time."

"That's enough energy for a small town," whispers someone in the group to the Russian minister.

"I beg your pardon, that's enough energy for a midsized city," the director of ITER, who clearly has very good hearing, breaks inand adds with a smile, "at least where I come from."

Dr. Obermeyer interrupts in order to prevent an embarrassing pause: "By the way, out there you can see some of the most advanced wind turbines in the world. Each one of them delivers more than five megawatts of power, which we use for cooling the superconducting magnet coils. Their output also powers the thousands of drives we use in our vacuum unit pumps and other systems at ITER. Because the space around the reactor is very limited, we've used special motors that are decentrally controlled and can deliver particularly high torques in a minimum of space. They also have built-in frequency converters that can alter their speed in response to requirements. In this way, we can save more than 50 % of the energy, because the motors consume only the amount of energy they need. In other words, they aren't constantly drawing power from the grid. Of course, you're only seeing part of the facility, which covers a total area of approximately 2,000 m². We use energy-saving drive systems in all of our other buildings, which are also full of sophisticated technology. In fact, according to my calculations, our operating costs will decline by more than 10 mill. € a year," concludes Obermeyer proudly.

Many of the ministers applaud at this point, but one turns to his German colleague and whispers, "But that's just peanuts, isn't it?"

Professor Murase has heard this remark as well. He takes Obermeyer off to the side and starts talking to him quietly. "I have the feeling that we'll probably have to deal with a few awkward remarks in two weeks at the G10 summit meeting in Marseille," he says. "Please make sure that you are as well prepared then as you've been today. We have a saying in Japan: 'Even if the river is shallow, cross it as though it were deep.'"
                                                                                                Norbert Aschenbrenner