Overview of EU DEMO design and R&D activities

•An important objective of the new EU fusion roadmap is to lay the foundation of a DEMO Fusion Power Reactor to follow ITER.•DEMO should be capable of generating several 100 MW of net electricity and operating with a closed fuel-cycle by 2050.•The paper outlines the DEMO design and R&D approach recently being undertaken in Europe.•The paper presents some preliminary design options that are under evaluation as well as the most urgent R&D work needed.•The R&D on materials for a near-term DEMO is discussed in detail elsewhere.

One important objective of the EU fusion roadmap Horizon 2020 is to lay the foundation of a Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO) to follow ITER, with the capability of generating several 100 MW of net electricity to the grid and operating with a closed fuel-cycle by 2050. This is currently viewed by many of the nations engaged in the construction of ITER as the remaining crucial step towards the exploitation of fusion power. This paper outlines the DEMO design and R&D approach that is being adopted in Europe and presents some of the preliminary design options that are under evaluation as well as the most urgent R&D work that is expected to be launched in the near-future. The R&D on materials for a near-term DEMO is discussed in detail elsewhere.