Federal Government establishes fusion hubs
Nuclear fusion is considered a possible energy source of the future. Plenty of research is needed to make this happen, and this is where the three new fusion hubs come in.
Berlin (dpa/d.de) – Berlin (dpa) – Three so-called fusion hubs are to be established to help Germany draw closer to the goal of realising the world’s first commercial nuclear fusion power plant. Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär announced in Berlin that the project would be going ahead. As the main sites, she listed Karlsruhe, Biblis in South Hesse and Garching near Munich, where construction of the first nuclear fusion research plant is already underway. Facilities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg will also be involved in the hubs.
“Fusion could solve our energy problems in the future,” Ms Bär said, adding that it was therefore important “that we are the drivers, rather than just passengers”. Fusion energy is generated when atomic nuclei are merged together at very high temperatures and high pressure. In theory, this allows for large amounts of energy to be produced in a climate-neutral manner. Research is taking place around the world to figure out whether and how this could be implemented in a power plant.
The Federal Government would like for the world’s first commercial nuclear fusion power plant to be taken into operation in Germany in the 2040s. This is why the German Ministry of Research is making 125 million euros available for the three hubs in a first round of funding that is part of the High-Tech Agenda. Additional funding is to be provided by the Federal states and private investors.
