About

We are facing a growing problem with energy for the world population, which is growing at an astounding rate and as the standard of living is also rising, the demand for energy is rising faster than the population growth rate. The vast majority of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuel. This cannot continue indefinitely as oil reserves are finite and Global Warming means we may face a serious food shortage if the climate changes radically.

Renewables are providing only a few percent of the energy for the world and almost all renewable with the exception of hydroelectric dams, are “in addition” to power stations and not “ instead of” power stations and so cannot be relied upon for “base-load” energy supply continuously.

Nuclear fission has contributed a significant amount to the base-load supply, but there are issues with this technology, and so researchers are examining using Nuclear Fusion, the process that keeps the sun hot, as hydrogen is transmuted into helium releasing energy in the process.

The talk will cover this world energy issue and then move on to showing what Nuclear Fusion is, and how it is being researched using the machines in the UK (JET) and the latest machine in France (ITER). I will endeavour to show the progress toward putting Fusion generated electricity onto the grid within our lifetime.

About the Speaker- Robin Stafford Allen

A Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and started my professional life in the Motor Industry with a branch of General Motors -- Vauxhall/Bedford in Luton.

I worked for several years on the engineering of the first generation of MRI Body Scanner magnets with Oxford Magnet Technology, then part of Oxford Instruments, now Siemens Magnet Technology.

I joined Culham in 1992 to help develop Fusion Energy and worked in Cryogenics and in the Heating and Fuelling of plasmas.

In 2015 I retired.