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1st Meeting of the 203rd Session (2023-2024)
Professor Declan Diver
On Monday 25th September 2023, at 7pm
Recent advances in magnetic fusion research have resulted in STEP – the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production – which will be built in the UK: the first fusion power station in the world. STEP is a unique machine, the result of a sustained UK fusion research effort, and will be delivering power by 2040. Fusion offers a consistent and reliable source of low-carbon energy that will help address the scale of the energy challenge globally: reducing fossil fuels whilst meeting the demand for significant increases in electrical power as transport, domestic heating and heavy industry transition from fossil fuels. We will explore the technology of STEP, and the prospects for the future.
My main research theme is the role of self-consistent electric and magnetic fields in the dynamics of charged particles and neutrals for complex gaseous systems (plasmas) in mixed-phase flows (ie in the presence of dust or liquid interfaces), with recent significant emphasis on the physics of life applications of plasmas having direct and indirect interaction with living cells. I also have a continuing interest in high-energy plasmas, including fusion, relativistic pair plasmas and pulsars. I was the consortium lead for Fusion Forward Ardeer, seeking to bring the world's first fusion power station - STEP - to the Ayrshire Coast.