The government will move up the target timing for a demonstration of electricity production from fusion energy to the 2030s, from the original target in the 2050s. To that end, it also finalized a roadmap to secure eight core technologies needed for the power generation demonstration by 2035.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said it reviewed and approved a draft of the Fusion Core Technology Development Roadmap at the 22nd National Fusion Committee meeting on the 19th. Under the roadmap, the government will begin full-scale development of a Korea-type innovative fusion reactor (a power generation demonstration reactor) and simultaneously push to secure technologies essential for demonstration.
The core of the plan is to respond preemptively to the global trend of accelerating competition in technology development. To match the speed race of major countries, including the United States' Genesis Mission, the government plans to combine data accumulated from operating the domestic fusion research device KSTAR with artificial intelligence (AI) to shorten the development and demonstration schedule.
The Korea-type innovative fusion reactor will be designed as a power generation demonstration device that verifies core technologies for commercialization at an early stage. The government will begin the conceptual design next year, develop it as a small device that allows rapid design and construction, and aims to preemptively verify its power generation function.
In addition, by 2030 it will push the development of eight core technologies to advance miniaturization technologies and secure power generation technologies, and elevate them to the demonstration stage by 2035. The miniaturization technology advancement category includes core plasma control, an innovative divertor, heating and current drive, and superconducting magnets. The power generation technology category includes a breeding blanket, fusion materials, the fuel cycle, and safety and licensing.
Funding and infrastructure will be built in parallel. The government has submitted a request for a preliminary feasibility study for a project worth about 1.5 trillion won to develop core technologies and build advanced demonstration research infrastructure. The construction site has been set for Naju, South Jeolla Province, and it will also push to revise the Act on the Promotion of Fusion Energy Development, including strengthening industrial support, and to streamline an industry-academia-research implementation system.
Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Fusion is a core field and a strategic technology that will lead innovation-driven growth based on science and technology," adding, "We will pool the capabilities of industry, academia and research to carry out power generation demonstration in the 2030s without a hitch, and we will do our best to secure future energy sovereignty while responding to increased power demand in the AI era."