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Private Enterprise for Nuclear Industry
Scientific Development “Science and Innovations”

- Federal projects

Materials for the subject "Development of Controlled Nuclear Fusion and Innovative Plasma Technologies within U3 Federal Project of DETSR Comprehensive Program"

Pursuant to directive of the President of the Russian Federation No. Pr-104 dated January 21, 2016 on the development and implementation of a national program for the development of controlled nuclear fusion and plasma technologies, ROSATOM together with Kurchatov Institute Research Center and organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences has developed a draft national development program for controlled nuclear fusion and plasma technologies for the period up to 2035.

Based on the provisions of this program, the Federal Project "Development of Controlled Nuclear Fusion and Innovative Plasma Technologies" (Federal Project U3) within the comprehensive program "Development of Engineering, Technologies and Scientific Research in the Use of Nuclear Energy in the Russian Federation until 2024" (hereinafter CP DETSR) in accordance with Decree of the President No. 270 dated April 16, 2020 was formed.

The current Federal Project U3 includes a set of measures that provide a basis for the development of research infrastructure, research and development, and improvement of the information exchange system in the Russian Federation in the field of controlled fusion and plasma technologies by 2024.

Federal Project U3 (in the current revision of the passport) includes 15 outputs (measures). 6 of them are aimed at the construction (reconstruction, upgrade, purchase) of research infrastructure facilities, 5 are the results of research and development (R&D) activities performed by the stakeholders of the Federal Project and 4 are the results of information, organizational and administrative support of the Federal Project.

Stakeholders of U3 Federal Project include ROSATOM organizations, Kurchatov Institute, universities and scientific organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.

There are five domains in the Federal Project. Work in the "Development and Implementation of Basic Nuclear Fusion Technologies" area will achieve world-class results in the sustainable retention of high-temperature fusion plasma in tokamak facilities based on the development and implementation of nuclear fusion technologies required for further creation of a fusion reactor based on magnetic retention of high-temperature plasma. First of all, this refers to systems of electromagnetic and corpuscular plasma heating with parameters exceeding the existing foreign equivalents. Moreover, the innovative technology of lithium protection of the first reactor wall and diverter will be perfected, which will make it possible to take a qualitative step to achieve reactor modes of tokamak operation. The implementation of this key area of the Federal Project will put Russia among the world leaders in the field of basic nuclear fusion technologies.

The implementation of the "Research and Development on Hybrid Reactor Technologies and Systems" area will pave the way for further creation of the world's first hybrid reactor plant – a prototype of a hybrid reactor to accelerate the industrial introduction of fusion technologies into the current nuclear energy system. The task of such a reactor is to use fusion neutrons to efficiently produce fuel for nuclear power plants and reprocess spent nuclear fuel. A concept for the world's first hybrid reactor plant will be developed, which is expected to be completed by 2035.

R&D in the "Development of Innovative Plasma Technologies, Including Pilot Scale" area will demonstrate the productivity of nuclear fusion science by developing and creating devices and technologies that can be mastered in industry at the current stage. New samples of industrial installations for the application of process coatings for various purposes, technologies for creating components of radiation-resistant electronic element base based on single-crystalline diamonds, domestic high-temperature superconductors, etc. will be developed. A qualitative leap will be made in the development and creation of powerful next generation plasma rocket engines with parameter values 5 to 10 times higher than those of existing electric rocket engines. Such devices are necessary for both long-distance flights and for maintaining parity in space near the Earth. Prototypes of quasi-stationary and pulsed sources of electromagnetic radiation up to multimegawatt power level of different purposes and spectral ranges, particle sources of MeV energy range with multimegawatt power level will be created. Parameters of the created devices will exceed the world level, which will ensure the exportability of the developed equipment. They will be tested on the created or upgraded domestic experimental benches.

Laser nuclear fusion being developed as an alternative to the magnetic confinement method provides solutions to a number of special problems and advances in fundamental science – study of the space-time structure of matter and unknown phenomena at the interface between high-energy physics and superstrong field physics. The key elements of the unique laser complex to be created will be developed, manufactured, and tested in the "Development and Research in Laser Nuclear Fusion and Laser Technologies" area of the Federal Project. A laboratory prototype of a diode-pumped driver module for laser fusion, unparalleled anywhere in the world, will be created. The work performed is the most important and necessary stage in the creation of a laser center based on a fundamentally new unique light source with a power of 0.1-0.2 EW, which is hundreds of times greater than the best world comparables (for comparison, this power is about 10 000 times greater than the power of all energy sources operating on the planet). Planned applications of research results will include the development of compact charged particle accelerators with dimensions hundreds of times smaller than existing accelerators, the creation of sources of ultra-short pulses of coherent and incoherent radiation in the hard X-ray and gamma ranges for the diagnosis of materials with picometer (10 to the minus twelfth degree of meters) spatial and attosecond (10 to the minus eighteenth degree of seconds) time resolution, development of new sources of radiation and particles for diagnosis and therapy of cancers etc.

Finally, according to the area of the "Development of the Regulatory Framework for Fusion and Hybrid Systems, Ensuring Licensing Activities, Exchange of Science and Technology Information", the world's first basis of the regulatory framework governing the full life cycle of fusion and hybrid systems operating in neutron modes will be created based on the performed R&D in collaboration with IAEA. A world-class system of information and project exchange among project stakeholders will be created.


Pursuant to Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 202 dated April 14, 2022, the integrated program "Development of Engineering, Technologies and Scientific Research in the Use of Nuclear Energy in the Russian Federation until 2024" is extended until 2030, as well as U3 Federal Project, which is part of the program. The main task of the Federal Project until 2030 is the development of fusion and plasma technologies that will be the basis for virtually inexhaustible environmentally clean sources of energy, sources of particles and radiation for various purposes, powerful plasma engines for spacecraft, innovative equipment for medicine, engineering, microelectronics and other high-tech industries.

The main results expected in 2030 under the Federal Project, assuming full planned funding:

  • transfer (implementation) of fusion, hybrid, plasma, and neutron technologies to the country's industrial sectors;

  • creation of a flightweight design of a plasma rocket engine with a power of at least 200 kW;

  • development of pilot production of powerful microwave generators of different spectral range and purpose;

  • an experimental and bench framework of fusion technologies has been created by Efremov NIIEFA JSC;

  • a test bed for powerful neutron sources of MeV-range energies has been created;

  • a gas dynamic multi-mirror trap GDMT with a field of at least 10 T in magnetic mirrors and a mirror ratio of at least 10 has been created and put into operation;

  • MEPhI laboratory has been upgraded and equipped with diagnostic tools to monitor the surface condition of irradiated materials;

  • additional heating complex for T-15MD with a total capacity of 15 MW has been manufactured and assembled; T-15MD tokamak is equipped with modern diagnostic tools that meet or exceed the world level;

  • an international research center for fusion technologies based on a tokamak with reactor technologies TRT has been established at SSC RF TRINITI JSC based on the SFT fusion complex.

Incomplete planned public funding will lead to increasing threats and potential risks associated with the failure to implement breakthrough science and technology development at the given pace and solve the tasks set out in Decree of the President No. 204 dated May 07, 2018, national goals in accordance with Decree of the President No. 474 dated July 21, 2020, and risks of loss of the technological leadership of the Russian Federation in the field of fusion research and technology.

If even part of the Federal Project activities are abandoned, there are substantial risks of losing domestic competencies in the field of nuclear fusion science and technology, where Russia's position has always been advanced and ahead of the world level.

The implementation of the Federal Project will make it possible by 2030 to take a significant step toward solving the problem of mastering and using nuclear fusion energy, the most ambitious task set by the mankind in the twentieth century. The layout of the federal project's activities ensures a balanced progress toward nuclear fusion power regardless of possible changes in the leadership of competing technologies as global nuclear fusion research progresses.

Apart from the direct use of fusion energy, the development of supporting technologies has been and continues to be a worldwide driver of science and technology development in hi-tech industries. Preservation and steady increase of science and technology potential in the field of nuclear fusion research is absolutely critical for strategic provision of the country's national security and involvement in the global science and technology progress in the field of energy, nuclear technology and special equipment.

In fact, the set of tasks to be solved by the project relates to the formation of a new technological paradigm of experimental and bench framework of fusion research and technology, and indicates the scale of challenges to be addressed. First of all, this refers to the recreation of a wide range of knowledge-intensive technologies of precise machine and instrument engineering, domestic materials science and electrical engineering, development of the element base of the information technology sector, development of a large volume of domestic control software. Plasma technologies developed during fusion research will bring energy to promotion of basic science and numerous new applications in various fields of science and technology, including nuclear power and space research.

Thus, the project implementation can greatly boost the development of various sectors of the economy, the restoration of highly qualified personnel for the production, technology and research sectors of the economy and should be considered as a priority area of research and development in Russia.