South Korea Announces New Plan on Nuclear Fusion R&D

The South Korean government finalized a new long-term plan on nuclear fusion R&D on Dec. 30. Nuclear fusion is to generate energy by imitating heat and light emission from the sun and does not generate high-level radioactive wastes. In theory, nuclear fusion using 1 gram of fuel is comparable to 8 tons of petroleum in terms of the volume of generated energy.

In South Korea, the National Fusion Research Institute is leading the development of the technology. In its Korean Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) project, an ultra-high temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius was maintained for 30 seconds, which is a world record. The institute is planning to continue to improve its technology so that the temperature can be maintained for 300 seconds in 2026, which is critical for commercial nuclear fusion.

The new plan of the government also focuses on commercial nuclear fusion. In order to be able to initiate nuclear fusion-based power generation in the 2050s, it is going to accelerate the development of eight key technologies and increase the domestic procurement of key components.

At the same time, it is going to work more closely with other governments so that the development of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor can be accelerated and related construction plans can be improved.

Minister of Science and ICT Lim Hye-sook visited the National Fusion Research Institute and attended a virtual fusion reactor demonstration on Dec. 30. “The government is preparing an R&D roadmap regarding a demonstration reactor for nuclear fusion-based power generation,” she said, adding, “It is going to provide extensive support for the commercialization of nuclear fusion energy.”