A panel of laser physicists from seven European countries has put forward proposals for a new 735 million euro facility to study an alternative approach to nuclear fusion than that which will be tackled by the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER).

The provisionally titled HiPER facility would be based on ‘fast ignition’ laser fusion technology, in which two separate lasers are used to compress and heat a small capsule of deuterium and tritium until the nuclei are hot enough to undergo nuclear fusion, producing helium and neutrons. The energy of the neutrons is then used to generate electricity without the production of greenhouse gases or nuclear waste. The panel of scientists says that the facility could also be used to support experiments in other areas of physics.

Read the complete article: European physicists propose new research facility for inertial fusion energy (CORDIS News)