Fusion Energy and the Physics of Burning Plasmas

世界面临着全球性的能源危机。我们的生活水平很大程度上是由基本负荷供电驱动的，这是不可持续的。核聚变发电是一种几乎零温室气体的技术，它保证了数百万年的基本负荷电力，不受武器扩散的影响。这一承诺激励了国际社会加速核聚变发展，承诺投入160亿美元的下一步技术支持实验——国际热核实验反应堆（ITER）。在对ITER的期待中，这项奖学金将促进澳大利亚核聚变研究的发展，并解决ITER面临的一个重大科学挑战：面对潜在的破坏性等离子体不稳定性，我们如何保持燃烧？答案将影响ITER和核聚变发电的可行性。

The world faces a global energy crisis. Our standard of living, which is largely powered by base-load electricity supply, is unsustainable. Fusion power is a near zero greenhouse gas technology, which promises millions of years of base-load electricity, free from weapon proliferation. This promise has galvanised the international community to accelerate fusion development by committing to the next-step technology-enabling $16 billion experiment, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). In anticipation of ITER, this fellowship will foster growth of Australian fusion research, and address a grand science challenge facing ITER: how do we maintain burn in the face of potentially damaging plasma instabilities? The answer will affect both ITER and the viability of fusion power.