The aim of the biennial series of symposia on Fusion Technology organized by the European Fusion Laboratories, is the exchange of information on the design, construction and operation of fusion experiments and on the technology being developed for the next-step devices and fusion reactors. The coverage of the volume includes the technological aspects of fusion reactors in relation to new developments, thus forming a guideline for the definition of future work. These proceedings comprise three volumes and contain both the invited lectures and contributed papers presented at the symposium, which was attended by 569 participants from around the globe. The 343 papers, including 12 invited papers, characterise the increasing interest of industry in the fusion programme, giving a broad and current overview on the progress and trends fusion technology is experiencing now, as well as indicating the future for fusion devices.

The objective of the Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT) conference is to set the stage for the exchange of information on the design, construction, and operation of fusion experiments and the technology which is being developed for the next-step devices and for fusion reactors. These proceedings therefore present an up-to-date and throrough review of the state-of-the art in this dynamic field.

The use of tritium as a basic fuel material in a thermonuclear fusion reactor raises particular safety issues due to the combined effects of its physico chemical properties and radioactive nature. Furthermore the possibility of attaining further significant progresses in developing and demonstrating the feasibility of tritium burning devices relies on the handling of tritium macroquantities, say ten grammes, in a safe and reliable manner. It is also undoubted that, apart from technological constraints, any validation and exploitation of thermonuclear fusion as a source of energy will be strongly conditioned by the application of stringent operational and environmental safety criteria as it derives from norms of the modern legislation and public acceptance considerations. Even if the safe handling of tritium has already been demonstrated to be feasible on a full fuel cycle scale, it is unanimously recognized that further efforts are still to be concentrated on the improvement of current concepts and development of advanced technologies. Some of the areas requiring substantial additional efforts are plasma exhaust fuel c1ean-up, tritium pellet injection, processing of inert carrier gas, development of large free-oil pumps,tritlUm process analytics, development of large detritiation systems, beryllium-tritium interaction studies, tritium hold-up studies in getter beds, adsorbers and structural materials, tritium recovery from first wall, structural and breeder materials for minimizing tritiated waste arising,tritium storage technology, tritiated waste disposal technolo~y, methodology for routine tritium accountancy,etc . . Most of them are intrinsically related to the safety requirement of tritium technology.

Invites small business concerns to submit grant applications under this second annual solicitation for the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) pilot program. Firms with strong research capabilities in science or engineering are encouraged to participate. Aims to increase private sector commercialization of technology developed Dept. of Energy Research and Dev. and improving the return on investment from federally-funded research for economic and social benefits to the nation.

Why has the clean, limitless energy promised by fusion always seemed just out of reach? Search for the Ultimate Energy Source: A History of the U.S. Fusion Energy Program, explains the fundamentals and concepts behind fusion power, and traces the development of fusion historically by decade—covering its history as dictated by US government policies, its major successes, and its prognosis for the future. The reader will gain an understanding of how the development of fusion has been shaped by changing government priorities as well as other hurdles currently facing realization of fusion power. Advance Praise for Search for the Ultimate Energy Source: “Dr. Dean has been uniquely involved in world fusion research for decades and, in this book, describes the complicated realities like few others possibly could.” -Robert L. Hirsch, a former director of the US fusion program, an Assistant Administrator of the US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA); an executive at Exxon, Arco, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and lead author of the book The Impending World Energy Mess (Apogee Prime Books, 2009). “In this book, Dr. Dean provides the many reasons why fusion has progressed more slowly than many had hoped. Budget is usually cited as the culprit, but policy is equally to blame. Facilities have been closed down before their jobs were done—or in some cases, even started. It seems this situation has become endemic in fusion, and if one thinks about it, in other nationally important Science and Technology initiatives as well.” -William R. Ellis, a former scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Associate Director of Research at the US Naval Research Laboratory, a vice president at Ebasco Services and at Raytheon, and chair of the US ITER Industry Council and the US ITER Industrial Consortium.