UW-Madison to host conference on fusion technology

More than 200 scientists, engineers and students from the United States, Japan, Europe, Russia and other countries will attend a conference on the technology of fusion energy, from Sept. 14-16 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.

Harrison (Jack) Schmitt, former Apollo 17 astronaut and adjunct professor of Engineering Physics, will deliver the keynote address, “Energy, Politics and Space,” at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14.

The conference will provide a forum for researchers to share progress in fusion research, as well as to present the future of national and worldwide fusion programs.

Fusion energy is the same kind of energy created by the sun, where temperatures and pressures are so high that atoms fuse together and release enormous amounts of energy. The development of a working, economical fusion reactor is an elusive and long-sought goal of science. Success in this area would mean an environmentally benign, safe and almost limitless source of new energy.

Program speakers will present an overview of the United States’ magnetic fusion program, the status of the country’s inertial confinement fusion program, an overview of recent Japanese activities in fusion technology and a special session about ITER (formerly the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) activities.

Papers, posters and discussions will cover topics ranging from reactor materials, fuel and diagnostics to fabrication, safety, socioeconomics and the environment.

“We’ll be looking at how you take progress in plasma physics and convert it into something that’s useful to the consumer,” says Gerald Kulcinski, professor of Engineering Physics and director of the university’s Fusion Technology Institute (FTI).

Conference sponsors include the FTI, the American Nuclear Society, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan and the U.S. Department of Energy.

A full schedule is available online. For more information, visit the Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy website