Meeting California's Energy Challenge Single Pass RF Accelerator Driven

Heavy Ion Fusion

Charles Helsley, Robert Burke, Alex Burke and Harold Helsley

Fusion Power Corporation

Presentation Topics • Global and national energy perspectives • Importance of Energy to economic well-being and

prosperity • Our energy options • What Fusion offers • Readiness of HIF • System output • Cost comparisons • Conclusions

Projected World Energy Demand (A Projected 14 TW Energy Gap by 2050)

2100: 40-50 TW 2050: 25-30 TW 2000: 13 TW

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1970 1990 2010 2030

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World Energy Demand total

industrial

developing

US

ee/fsu

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10

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30

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World Fuel Mix 2001 oil

gas coal

nucl renew

85% fossil

energy gap ~ 14 TW by 2050 ~ 33 TW by 2100

EIA Intl Energy Outlook 2004 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html

Finite Resources

9 billion

2050 Estimated Population

(With each person looking for improved personal prosperity)

Energy Consumption

An Endangered Lifestyle … Air Transportation

World Air Traffic Simulation

The yellow dots are large aircraft flights during a 24 hour period.

Energy is the Fuel of National Prosperity

Source: Royal Dutch Shell, “Exploring the Future - Energy Needs, Choices and Possibilities

The Problem • Energy Demand Growing Rapidly – Aging Infrastructure • Supplies are Diminishing • Fossil Fuels

– Finite – Environmental Problems

• Wind & Solar – Limited Production – Expensive

• Fission – Safety – Radiation Problems – Radioactive Waste and Public Acceptance Problem

Comparison of Energy Sources • Hydroelectric Resource nearly fully utilized & not reliable in

times of drought • Oil and Gas Near or past maximum production • Coal Nearing maximum production • Nuclear (fission) Creates radioactive waste & ‘bomb making’

material • Wind Small, will likely remain small, & not reliable,

wind has to blow • Solar Expensive – requires large land area & may

impact food production, the sun has to shine - not reliable

• Biomass Takes away from food supply, expensive • Others Too little and too late

The Urgent Need Our Nation needs a new energy source that is:

• Abundant • Clean & Green … and Safe • Affordable • Renewable (does not deplete)

• Dependable (Sunlight, wind and rainfall independent)

FUSION is that source

The Solution …

Helium

Hydrogen - Liquid Fuels

Steam - Electrical Power

Heat Oxygen

Potable Water

RF Accelerator Heavy Ion Fusion Researched by Argonne National Lab and recommended for demonstration– 1979.

Internationally recognized as the conservative approach to fusion power production.

Heavy Ion Fusion (HIF)

HIF is the use of a beam of high-energy heavy ions to provide the energy to make the Deuterium Tritium (DT) fusion reaction take place.

FPC’s patent pending technique uses: - ion generators (known current technology) - linear accelerators (known current technology) - ion beam steering (known current technology) - DT pellet fabrication (known current technology) - conventional heat exchange to a working fluid (known current practice)

Typical Use of Layout Flexibility

FPC’s Uniqueness is …

• storable and transportable carbon neutral liquid fuel - uses current infrastructure

• electricity to feed industry and the regional distribution grid

• potable water from the oceans • a new source of energy – Clean & Green

… and Safe!

The Technology is Ready to Go • HIF technology more ready (now and in 1979) than was rocket science when

JFK announced the Apollo program in 1961.

• Experience says Accelerators (our largest and most complex part) perform as designed and performance can be precisely predicted via computer models.

• The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is larger than our accelerator (4x).

• Heat exchange is conventional power plant technology.

35 Years of HIF Endorsements 1976 “[HIF] warranted high confidence … heavy ion fusion faced no show stoppers.” ERDA Summer Study of Heavy Ions for Inertial Fusion, Final

Report December 1976 LBL 5543(1976) 1979 “…heavy ion accelerators have great promise as reactor candidates because of their inherently high efficiency, developed repetitive-pulse

technology, and favorable theoretical predictions of target coupling.” Foster Committee Report to the Energy Research Advisory Board at its May 3, 1979, meeting.

1983 “We conclude that the uncertainties in coupling physics for high-energy heavy ions are minimal.” The Jason Report of January1983 (JSR82-302). 1986 “Heavy ion beams may well be the best eventual driver for energy applications.” The National Academies of Sciences Report of March 1986

entitled, “Review of the Department of Energy’s Inertial Confinement Fusion Program” 1990 Recommended parallel development of inertial and magnetic fusion with a budget level of about $30 million per year for HIF. The Fusion Policy

Advisory Committee Report 1990 (Stever Panel) 1993 “We recognize the great opportunity for fusion development afforded the DOE by a modest heavy-ion driver program that leverages off the

extensive target program being conducted by the Defense Department…” Fusion Energy Advisory Committee (Davidson Panel). 1994 “heavy ion accelerators are still regarded as "the best bet for drivers." What is not said is that nearly 16 years after the first Foster panel report, the

heavy ion program is still starved for funds, and we have made very little progress on "the best bet." SCIENCE Magazine Letter VOL. 01/ 28/1994 Burton Richter, Director, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

1996 “In agreement with previous reviews, we consider the heavy ion accelerator to be the most promising driver for energy applications.” FESAC

(Sheffield) Report. 1998 The HIDIF-Study, GSI-98-06 Report, August 1998. 2010 “Abundant clean energy can be generated from pure fusion … on a timeline consistent with the urgency of the world’s energy, economic, and

environmental problems.” Physics Today Letter, June 2010 Page 58, Robert J. Burke, Chairman, Fusion Power Corporation. 2010 “… we know that inertially confined fusion (ICF) is possible since we can create nuclear explosions.” Physics Today Letter, October 2010, Page 8,

Martin Stickley, Director of Office of Laser Fusion at Energy R&D Administration (ERDA) in 1976-1979. 2011 “Yes, … I agree with you, you have enough energy for ignition [at the pellet].” comment by Dr. Grant Logan at the AHIF Workshop, LBNL

Berkeley CA. The first three recommendations from the RF Accelerator Working Group support the moving forward of commercial development of Fusion Energy.

Liquid Fuels are the Key

• HIF system’s primary product will be a storable and transportable carbon neutral liquid fuel. Gasoline - Jet Fuel – Diesel

• HIF system can also produce electrical power to feed industry and the regional distribution grid.

• Potable water from the oceans, where needed.

Liquid Fuels

• Fusion allows efficient high temperature production of Hydrogen

• Combining Hydrogen with CO2 extracted from the atmosphere yields Methanol • Methanol provides a feed stock for gasoline,

kerosene, diesel via Exxon-Mobil and Sasol processes (currently used technology)

• Yield is thus a Carbon Neutral Fuel • Fusion, itself, is Carbon Free

Generation Cost Comparison

Cents per kWh

Gen

erat

ion

Met

hod

*Source: Lazard Ltd. Analysis June 2008

Comparison of Present Day and Future HIF Energy Supply

Present Day Energy Supply System One Giant Oil Field * Oil transport system (pipeline or tanker) Refineries Electrical Power generation (fossil or nuclear) (40 GW thermal – 14GW electric)

Total Future HIF Energy Supply System

One HIF System** (equivalent to one Giant Oil Field) Fuel Refineries (uses existing fuel transport system) Fifteen Power Plants (14GWe)

Total

Capital Costs Annual Maintenance Cost $ 40 B $ 4 B $ 10 B $ 2 B $ 12 B $ 2 B $ 100 B $ 10 B $ 162 B $ 18 B $ 20 B $ 2 B $ 20 B $ 2 B $ 15 B $ 2 B $ 55 B $ 6 B

1 HIF System produces the amount of energy produced by 1 Giant Oil Field * Production declines at 4 to 12% per year once peak is past ** No decline

Value and Compatibility

• One HIF system can produce 500,000 barrels of synthetic carbon neutral fuel, 8 Gwe, and 2000 ac. ft. of potable water per day

• The energy output is equivalent to the energy production from a giant oil field

• No refining required • Production does not decline like a giant oil

field • Products use and support the currently

existing storage & distribution infrastructures

Summary and Conclusions • Fusion is ready to become part of our base-

load energy mix. • Fusion can displace carbon bearing fuels in the

coming decades • Fusion provides large energy sources at low

average cost • Fusion is environmentally green and very, very

safe • There is a light at the end of the tunnel