Making a Small Sun on Earth

One of the urgent issues we are facing is securing sustainable energy for growing populations and developing industries. The large volume of fossil fuel consumption since the Industrial Revolution is bringing disasters caused by climate change due to global warming. A potential solution to this issue is nuclear fusion, the process by which the Sun produces its heat. If fusion energy can be generated on Earth, then we may achieve an ideal power generation system that features excellent environmental friendliness without CO₂ emissions, high safety, and virtually inexhaustible fuel resources. To demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy, an international project called ITER (“the way” in Latin) is progressing with cooperation among 35 countries.

Japan is one of the leaders of this project, as the country’s National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) and many Japanese companies have been participating in ITER. A.L.M.T. Corporation, a Sumitomo Electric Group company, has supplied tungsten monoblocks, an important component of the divertor, a key device in the nuclear fusion reactor. This feature article focuses on efforts to realize nuclear fusion, a dream energy source.