Fusion Energy (Taught)

This course provides a firm foundation to fusion physics and give introductions to some of the more advanced topics. It is an ideal course to prepare students for a PhD in fusion energy; it will also equip students who decide not to pursue fusion further with a range of important generic skills applicable in many sectors of employment. Fusion offers the prospect of an effectively limitless supply of energy which is relatively clean and produces no greenhouse gases. Fusion research is focused around 2 main concepts: Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Both will be covered in this MSc course. The field is entering an exciting new era with the construction of the ITER tokamak in the south of France. There are also large ICF projects on the horizon, such as NIF and HiPER. Courses taken as part of the fusion energy MSc includes lectures, laboratory classes and a major research project which will be carried out over the summer months and assessed by dissertation.