A Dunedin student with a view of a clean and safe nuclear-powered
future has been recognised as one of the world’s top young scientists
and will complete his PhD at a leading American university, having been
granted a prestigious International Fulbright Science and Technology Award.
Only 40 of the awards are presented worldwide each year, to top students
from participating countries in the Fulbright exchange programme. Fulbright
New Zealand has been successful in nominating candidates in each of the
competition’s four rounds to date.
2010 International Fulbright Science
and Technology Award recipient Jonathan Squire from Dunedin
This year’s recipient, University of Otago honours student Jonathan
Squire, was selected from over 150 nominees put forward by 76 countries
for 2010 International Fulbright Science and Technology Awards. Jonathan’s
award will fund the full costs of completing a five year PhD in the United
States of America, where he plans to research energy production by nuclear
fusion – a process in which the nuclei of atoms are fused together,
releasing enormous amounts of energy, as occurs naturally in the core
of the Sun. Unlike traditional nuclear energy production by nuclear fission
(splitting of atoms), the developing technology of nuclear fusion promises
a future of clean, sustainable and reliable energy with very little resource
depletion, and is seen as one possible solution to the looming energy
crisis caused by the depletion of fossil fuels.
As Jonathan explains, the US is a powerhouse in the international field
of nuclear fusion research: “The nature of fusion research means
the experiments are complex, with many components, and therefore very
costly. Much of the research is conducted by large, multidisciplinary
teams, and consequently no experiments are currently taking place in New
Zealand. I’m hoping to study at either Princeton University or MIT,
both of which have strong graduate programmes in the area of fusion research
and seem to be really exciting and vibrant places to study.”
He estimates that “it will probably be 40 or 50 years or so before
fusion becomes a commercially viable energy option,” and says that
while the technology is unlikely to be needed in New Zealand, it could
offer the country greater security of power supply. “Nuclear fusion
offers incredible promise in the production of clean energy and has the
potential to revolutionise the way we produce power. New Zealand is in
the enviable position of having plentiful resources for sustainable power
generation. However, there are some large difficulties with the volatility
and unpredictability of conventional renewable energy sources (solar,
wind etc.) and fusion power promises to overcome these.”
