Fusion energy: where do we stand and what comes next?

by Paolo Ricci (Swiss Plasma Center, EPFL)

Thursday 3 Sept 2026, 16:30 → 18:00 Europe/Zurich

500/1-001 - Main Auditorium (CERN)

 

Fusion holds the promise of providing humankind with a new source of clean, safe and virtually inexhaustible energy. After decades of research, major experimental breakthroughs, together with advances in high-performance computing and superconducting magnets, are rapidly changing the fusion landscape. Unprecedented public and private investments are transforming fusion from a long-term scientific endeavour into a global industrial race.

In this talk, I will introduce the basic principles of fusion and explain why reproducing on Earth the process that powers the stars is so challenging. I will review the major achievements of fusion research, the status of the leading approaches, and the key physics and engineering challenges that must still be overcome before fusion can become a practical energy source. Finally, I will discuss the prospects for the coming decades and address a central question: how close are we really to fusion energy?

 

Bio:

Paolo Ricci earned his Master's degree in nuclear engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, Turin (Italy) in 2000. His doctoral studies were conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and he spent two-and-a-half years as a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College Department of Physics and Astronomy. Paolo joined the EPFL Swiss Plasma Center, as a EURATOM fellow in 2006, was named Tenure Track Assistant Professor in 2010, Associate Professor in 2016, and Full Professor in 2023. He is the Director of the Swiss Plasma Center. Paolo is the recipient of the 2016 Section de Physique Teaching Prize, of the 2021 Craie d'Or award from the EPFL physics bachelor students, and of the 2021 Polysphère d'Or award from the EPFL AGEPoly.

 

 

Coffee and tea will be served at 16h

Organised by : Alexander Zhiboedov