The Bavarian state government is planning the world’s first functional fusion reactor together with the start-up Proxima Fusion. Is the planned schedule realistic? This is how the physicist Harald Lesch assesses the project.
The Free State of Bavaria wants to be Germany’s pioneer in nuclear fusion. After the construction of a research reactor, according to the political vision, the energy generated will be fed into the German electricity system by the middle of the next decade, thus combining security of supply and climate protection. Nuclear fusion is considered by many to be a type of “star energy” for the Earth – clean, reliable and almost inexhaustible.
Physicist Harald Lesch believes plans are unrealistic
But the euphoria is not shared by everyone. In an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau the physicist and science journalist Harald Lesch, who has been working on plasma and fusion research for years, expresses clear doubts about the postulated timetables. He points out that work on nuclear fusion has been going on around the world for decades, with no reactor in continuous operation producing more energy than is needed to maintain it.
According to Lesch, nuclear fusion is “not a question of a few years, but of several decades.” In his view, the central hurdle lies not just in the construction of a system, but in the complexity of the underlying technology. For nuclear fusion, a plasma must be heated to extreme temperatures and kept stable using strong magnetic fields. Concepts such as tokamak and stellarator have been researched for a long time, but even large-scale projects such as the international ITER reactor in Cadarache, which has been under construction for almost 20 years, are far from serving as a blueprint for a commercial power plant.
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Projects of this dimension require long-term preparation
For him, there is also German planning practice: even significantly less demanding large-scale projects require long approval and construction times in this country. A fusion power plant that can be operated safely requires enormous investments in technology, materials and monitoring. Lesch points out that the costs for conventional nuclear power plants are already in the double-digit billion range. If politicians are offering sums of around two billion euros for a merger project, that is unlikely to be enough.
If it is nevertheless suggested that a functional reactor can be realized with significantly less money and in a short period of time, it seems to him like a promise that contradicts physical and economic realities:
“I don’t know how the cost is going to get down to a tenth – it has to be some magic. But that’s completely different than actual physics.”
Lesch: Nuclear power is “a failed technology”
Lesch makes it clear that nuclear fusion, even if successful, will make little contribution to electricity bills in the foreseeable future. In addition, he points out that fusion systems do not work entirely without radioactive materials and that high construction and safety costs would inevitably be reflected in the price.
Another point: The electricity system of the future must be flexible so that power plants can be shut down when there is high wind and solar power. In his view, large systems that rely on continuous operation only fit into such a system to a limited extent.
“In view of the renewable energies, in combination with batteries, the use of nuclear power is actually a non-starter technology. That is over because it produces incredibly high costs and risks.”
Expansion of renewable energies as a promising alternative
Lesch sees the consistent expansion of renewable energies such as wind power and photovoltaics, combined with storage and controllable reserve capacities, for example in the form of gas power plants, as a promising alternative. The costs for solar modules, wind systems and batteries have fallen significantly in recent years. Mass production and technical progress continue to drive this development.
This means an energy system that can be both climate-friendly and cost-efficient in the long term. Instead of relying on a technology whose breakthrough is uncertain in terms of time, Lesch advocates resolutely expanding existing, tried-and-tested solutions.
“The collapse in prices for PV, wind power and recently also for batteries clearly shows where we are heading. Namely towards renewable energies. Large machines, such as fusion power plants, no longer fit into the global energy mix.”
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