The academic research ecosystem required to support the development of fusion energy
Name
090604_1_5.0167369.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
466.75 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
a2f488d265f4bdc563c568cad84a808f
Author(s)
Whyte, DG
Paz-Soldan, C
Wirth, B
Date Issued
September 29, 2023
Journal
Physics of Plasmas
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Citation
D. G. Whyte, C. Paz-Soldan, B. Wirth; The academic research ecosystem required to support the development of fusion energy. Phys. Plasmas 1 September 2023; 30 (9): 090604.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The advent of a fusion energy industry is being strongly supported by academics and universities, with the majority of fusion companies launching out of universities. Universities also play critical roles in technical innovation, workforce development, and independent arbiters of science and technology. The ability of the US academic landscape to support and grow the fusion energy sector is analyzed via a numerical distribution of full time faculty engaged in fusion and plasma. This data is compared to university support in two existing technology-driven industries: nuclear and aeronautics. This comparison clearly shows that the university system requires not only significant absolute growth but also a wider distribution of faculty at universities and across the required disciplines.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0167369
