Global Experimental Thermo-Nuclear Reactor (GETR) Project

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Origins of Fusion

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Fusion power has the potential to provide sufficient energy to satisfy mounting demand, and to do so sustainably, with a relatively small impact on the environment.

Nuclear fusion has many potential attractions. Firstly, its hydrogen isotope fuels are relatively abundant – one of the necessary isotopes, deuterium, can be extracted from seawater, while the other fuel, tritium, would be bred from a lithium blanket using neutrons produced in the fusion reaction itself. Furthermore, a fusion reactor would produce virtually no CO2 or atmospheric pollutants, and its other radioactive waste products would be very short-lived compared to those produced by conventional nuclear reactors.

On 24 August 2015, the Franco-Albion Union opened up the proposal to fund and build the GETR project, along with the eventual goal to fund the creation of an experimental nuclear fusion reactor. The program is anticipated to last for 30 years – 10 for construction, and 20 of operation. GETR was originally expected to cost approximately $10billion, but the rising price of raw materials and changes to the initial design may see the required budget rise. The reactor is expected to take several years to build. Site preparation for the reactor will commence as soon as a location for the reactor is agreed.

GETR is designed to produce approximately 500 MW of fusion power sustained for up to 1,000 seconds by the fusion of about 0.5 g of deuterium/tritium mixture in its approximately 840 m3 reactor chamber. Although GETR is expected to produce (in the form of heat) 10 times more energy than the amount consumed to heat up the plasma to fusion temperatures, the generated heat will not be used to generate any electricity.

Project Objectives

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GETR's mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power, and prove that it can work without negative impact. Specifically, the project aims:

-- To momentarily produce ten times more thermal energy from fusion heating than is supplied by auxiliary heating (a Q value equals 10).
-- To produce a steady-state plasma with a Q value greater than 5.
-- To maintain a fusion pulse for up to 480 seconds.
-- To ignite a 'burning' (self-sustaining) plasma.
-- To develop technologies and processes needed for a fusion power plant — including superconducting magnets and remote handling (maintenance by robot).
-- To verify tritium breeding concepts.
-- To refine neutron shield/heat conversion technology (most of the energy in the D+T fusion reaction is released in the form of fast neutrons).

Participants

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Currently there are numerous parties participating in the GETR program: the Franco-Albion Union (through the legally distinct organisation FAUATOM), Polar Svalbard (through Sedolv Mikla and various power companies), Miklania, Remodio, Oglassa, Fallen Star Federation, The Corporation Nation, Covonant, Ostehaar, Camtholia and Dashgrinaar.

Currently, GETR's work is supervised by the GETR Council, which has the authority to appoint senior staff, amend regulations, decide on budgeting issues, and allow additional states or organizations to participate in GETR. The present Chairman of the GETR Council is Lord Harold Morrison from the Franco-Albion Union.

On the first day of potential investment, Sri Lankin, Franco-Albion and Remodio both promised to release scientists and researchers for the project when they become available. Polar Svalbard was the first foreign investor in the project. Oglassa pledged to support the project with her merchant navy, helping to ferry personnel and supplies to and from the project. The Fallen Star Federation pledged a further 15 scientists to the project, along with an initial investment of $500M - later boosted to $1 billion. Miklania has pledged to release prior-research on Nuclear Fusion, which could potentially speed up the project by a couple of years. Covonant is one of the largest contributors to the GETR project, with $600M of investment ($250M of which is from the private sector) and a serious contingent of scientific and technical teams.

Chairman of the GETR Council, Lord Harold Morrison, told FABC News:
"I am most grateful for the contributions to the project. Never in my dreams, could I have imagined such a huge financial and technological investment on the first day alone. It makes me very optimistic about the future - not just for the project, but for the region and mankind."

Participating Countries

Franco-albion
Polar svalbard
Miklania
Remodio
Oglassa
The fallen star federation
Covonant
Sri lankin
Coastal prowe
Linaviar
Havenburgh
The corporation nation
Federation of hozan
Dashgrinaar
Vancouvia

Location

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The process of selecting a location for GETR is expected to be a long period of time. So far several sites have been proposed; an undisclosed site in I.D (supported by many nations including Polar Svalbard, Oglassa, the Covonant and Miklania), a site in the Fallen Star Federation and in Franco-Albion (supported by Remodio).

Coastal Prowe and the Federation of Hozan failed to submit a bid for the reactor's location.

All participants are automatically allowed to submit a bid for a site, either in their home nation or support the bid of another nation. The final location will be agreed upon by the GETR Council - however the bid with the most votes will likely become the chosen site.

Bidding is expected to be fierce, as there will be many benefits to a winning bid - most notably having a Fusion Reactor installed in their nation with most of the funding and labour provided by foreign nations, as well as the other international investments in infrastructure and providing a massive boost to their economy.

Criticisms

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From the very beginning of the project, there has been many voices of criticism and concern aimed towards Franco-Albion, GETR and its participants.

Segentova has been official opposed to the project from its outset, lobbying the GETR Council to disband the project over fears regarding nuclear technology. Despite Nuclear Fusion's potentially clean and minimal risk, the nation still voices the opinion of its people. Referring to Segentova, a spokesman for GETR said:
"Whilst we do not share the opinion of the people of Segentova, I can understand why - and I applaud their government for listening and siding with its people. In experiments like this, it is always best to have someone on the other fence who will be able to see things that we cannot and to voice concerns if we become too comfortable with the risks. Nevertheless, I understand their concerns over Nuclear safety. We've been brought up in a dangerous age of where the word [nuclear] is always associated with death and destruction. Part of our mission is to change that - to educate and reform the world - whilst being careful not to forget to listen to every voice and opinion."

In several nations, activists have demonstrated against GETR and nuclear fusion. Whilst some of the protests are against nuclear power in general (often referring to incorrect or out-of-context slogans and information), a large number of them are against the financial investments. Many of the voices raised insist that the world would do better to invest the $10 billion in other projects - ranging from solar and wind technologies - to tackling poverty, homelessness and hunger.

On the 27th of August, days after the announcement of GETR, a large number of citizens stormed Isenburg City Hall in Franco-Albion and demonstrated a "sit-in" in the main hall - protesting against the "Nuclear Threat". After Police contained the situation, both law enforcement and the demonstrators were caught off-guard by a counter-demonstration by students from Isenburg University (mainly from the Science departments) - confronting the mis-information used by the original protesters. 17 people were arrested, 14 for 'Public Disorder' charges, and a further 7 also charged with assault towards the Police or members of the public. Only 1 student was arrested from their otherwise peaceful demonstration.

Relevant Links

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"Union Proposes Nuclear Fusion Plant" - FABC News article describing the Franco-Albion Union's announcement of the project to the media.
"Joseph Goering Supports GETR" - RNN article describing Remodio's mixed reaction to joining the GETR project.