Dr. Francesco Pegoraro of Physics Dept. "Enrico Fermi", Pisa University, Pisa Italy

This presentation is the 12th in the Nuclear Presentation Series.

Professor Francesco Pegoraro will discuss thermonuclear fusion.

A brief overview of the current state of research in thermonuclear fusion will be presented recalling the various factors - science, technology, public acceptance, and economics - that play a role in its development.

Some aspects have been studied and analyzed in recent decades, reaching the conclusion that it is realistic to expect demonstration of net, commercially viable energy production by the middle of this century.

Others, such as the costs of fusion energy production, and particularly the investment costs associated with this development, are still largely unexplored. Furthermore, the international social and political impact of fusion has not yet been assessed. An important question to ask is which nations will have the concrete possibility of accessing it in terms of investments and expertise.

In addition it is to be noted that, both in terms of public information and political positions, there are misunderstandings about the timing and the implications of its implementation. An effort to provide qualified information is even more necessary in a time of cultural reflux, when we risk returning to an economy largely based on fossil fuels and keeping in mind that features outside pure scientific development have always been present in energy research.

Biography:

Francesco Pegoraro studied physics at the University of Pisa and at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa Italy, and graduated in physics in November 1970.

He received his advanced degree (doctorate) in physics in June 1974 from the Scuola Normale Superiore with a thesis in General Relativity.

He began his research activity in plasma physics in 1974-76 in Prof. B. Coppi's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston USA.

He returned to Italy in the fall of 1976 and became first assistant and then, in 1983, associate professor in plasma physics at the Scuola Normale Superiore.

He served for two years, from September 1987 to November 1989, as Group Leader in the theoretical division of the Joint European Torus (JET) magnetic fusion experiment at Culham (Oxford, UK).

In 1990 he was called as full professor of theoretical physics at the University of Turin.

In 1996 he was called as full professor of plasma physics at the University of Pisa where he served until 2017 (retirement).

In 2022 he was appointed Professor Emeritus at the Dept. of Physics, University of Pisa.

In 2008 he was made a Corresponding Member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and in 2021 a National Member, participating in several activities of the Academy including the Energy and the Research Commissions.

Francesco Pegoraro's research covered different aspects of plasma physics, their nonlinear dynamics and their applications, ranging from the physics of controlled thermonuclear fusion, to magnetospheric and solar plasmas, to relativistic plasmas produced by the interaction with matter of very high intensity laser pulses. He is the author of ~ 400 papers published in international refereed journals.