Et is supposed to be an event with a signal effect, as the list of prominent participants shows. Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) is there, as is Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI). In addition, top-class company representatives such as Peter Leibinger, Head of Technology at the Swabian laser manufacturer Trumpf, and Vinod Philip, CEO of the Dax group Siemens Energy.
The topic that the minister and the managers want to discuss at their meeting in Berlin on Monday seemed to have already been ticked off in Germany: nuclear power as a safe and climate-friendly source of energy. However, the symposium at the BDI headquarters, jointly organized by the research ministry and industry, should not be about conventional nuclear power plants. As is well known, the last of this type was switched off in Germany in April.
Rather, the subject of the talks in Berlin are fusion power plants, the eternal hope of nuclear proponents. “Nuclear fusion has the potential to revolutionize our energy supply,” says Research Minister Stark-Watzinger in an interview with the FAS. She wants to make Germany a leading nation in nuclear fusion technology.
“Important contribution to energy supply”
In Germany, too, fusion power plants could “make an important contribution to secure, affordable and climate-neutral energy supply,” hopes the minister. Support for the plans comes from business. Germany as an industrial location urgently needs other clean and reliable energy sources in addition to renewables, says BDI boss Russwurm. The industry wants to help “that fusion becomes a reality as part of a future electricity mix.” The physical principle of nuclear fusion sounds impressive. Atoms are fused, releasing large amounts of energy. This process is also the main source of energy from the sun.
Fusion reactors promise at least two major advantages over conventional nuclear power plants. Firstly, due to the nature of the system, serious nuclear accidents caused by uncontrollable nuclear chain reactions such as in Chernobyl and Fukushima cannot occur. Secondly, in contrast to nuclear fission in conventional reactors, nuclear fusion does not produce long-lived nuclear waste, and the tiresome problem of final storage does not exist. However, despite decades of effort by researchers, there is still a long way to go from the theoretical concept to the real fusion reactor.
Laser fusion uses powerful laser beams to trigger an atomic fusion reaction. Laser beams used to trigger an atomic fusion reaction.
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Image: ddp
Stark-Watzinger still relies on this technology: “We want to send a clear signal that nuclear fusion is politically wanted in Germany.” This creates “reliability” and thus the prerequisite for German industrial companies to invest.
However, enthusiasm for fusion energy varies in the Berlin traffic light coalition. In any case, Robert Habeck’s Federal Ministry of Economics, which is led by the Greens, had no interest in participating in the symposium.
“Today, Germany is in pole position in fusion technology. Technologically, we have the best prerequisites to play internationally at the forefront,” believes the FDP Minister Stark-Watzinger. “But we also have to convert the good starting position into economic benefits. The commercialization of fusion technology must take place here.”
Billions invested in the merger
The race to use fusion technology economically has long since begun. So far, an estimated 5 billion dollars have been invested globally in fusion technology. Around three dozen startup companies are working on the technology worldwide.
For major German companies such as laser world market leader Trumpf and Siemens Energy, but also for domestic nuclear startups such as Focused Energy from Darmstadt, Marvel Fusion and Proxima from Munich and Gauss Fusion from Hanau, the future market of nuclear fusion is set to become big business. The thought sounds daring: Nuclear technology from the nuclear phase-out country Germany should become an export hit.
