Fusion energy boost for high-tech Australia »
The world's largest fusion energy experiment, ITER, has turned to Australian physicists to supply a crucial imaging system for the multi-billion-euro experiment. Engaging with ITER is a great opportunity for Australian high technology industry and researchers, said Director of the ANU Australian Fusion Facility, Professor John Howard. "There is huge potential if Australian businesses get listed as high-tech providers for ITER," he said. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers stars. It promises carbon-free clean power, by fusing hydrogen nuclei to form helium in high-temperature plasmas like the sun, and has none of the waste by-products associated with current uranium-based nuclear power. The ITER project is under construction in the south of France and is expected to produce 500 megawatts of power in experiments by the end of the next decade. Scientists at ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering have been contracted to undertake a design study for the installation of an advanced system that images plasma temperature and flow in ITER.
