Status of nuclear fusion energy science & technology for power production: progress & prospects

Abstract

Energy release by nuclear fusion reactions was first proposed in the context of theories explaining the energy source of stellar objects. Subsequently, laboratory experiments in the 1930's demonstrated the validity of such reactions. From the 1940's onward, efforts began to pursue the controlled & uncontrolled release of nuclear fusion energy for both civilian & military applications. While the military aspect of this technology was proved in the early 1950's, the civilian part, which focused on inventing different techniques to fuse light elements nuclei to produce power, found little success. The main reason for this was undertaking expensive & complicated fusion experiments without fully resolving all the scientific issues regarding each concept. However, the decades – long delays in realizing fusion for power production caused some of these efforts to shift recently & noticeably to the commercial arena where a literal accountability of the progress of these projects is conducted. This status review paper gives a quick historical background on nuclear fusion science & technologies, explains briefly a few innovative nuclear fusion energy production methods with a focus on the rapidly growing commercial trend of nuclear fusion research and developments efforts.