At the edge: Plasma-surface science for future fusion reactors

Concerns over energy security and climate change are driving the development of novel sustainable energy sources. Fusion, the process that powers the Sun, has great potential to provide clean industrial-scale baseload electrical power, with negligible CO ₂ emissions and produce little long-term waste. Results from the 500 MW international magnetic confinement experiment ITER will determine the future of fusion energy as a viable alternative source of clean energy. The science and technology of materials under extreme heat loads, and in particular plasma-surface interactions, are critical to the success of plasma fusion sources such as ITER [1] and the ultimate viability of generating fusion power under steady state conditions.