Of Interest archive

The ITER Organization has just released a 200-page photobook that covers progress in construction, manufacturing and assembly between 2013 and 2024. 

In 2013, work was ending on the foundations of the Tokamak Complex but no walls were yet built; today civil work has been completed on the 430,000-tonne Complex and efforts have shifted to installing and assembling plant equipment and machine components.

In 2013, only two buildings existed on the ITER site in southern France and mountains of dirt were the most common feature on the platform as contractors worked to install underground drainage networks; today the scientific installation is essentially complete except for the future Hot Cell and the first activities from the control room to manage the plant are scheduled for 19 December 2024.

In 2013, 515 people worked as staff members for the ITER Organization; today, that figure has doubled.

"ITER Progress in Pictures 2013-2024, Construction, Manufacturing & Assembly" covers it all. Visit the Publication Centre on the ITER website (Brochures).

The 360° virtual tour of ITER construction has been updated with drone footage from October 2024. Discover the principal buildings of the ITER worksite, and the equipment inside, by clicking on and rotating the 360° photos.

Accessible from the NEWS & MEDIA pages of the ITER website or by clicking on the link below, the 2D tour requires no special equipment to enjoy. If you do have 3D glasses, click on the yellow goggle symbol at the top of any screen.

Click here to see the latest 360° ITER virtual tour.

The Fusion Industry Association has released The Fusion Workforce: Where it’s heading and how to prepare. It provides a roadmap for addressing fusion workforce and skills needs by giving insights into the current and future fusion industry workforce; projections; and how industry, government, and academia can plan and support. Based on interviews and surveys with the major fusion developers and suppliers, the report details the skills needed for the fusion industry to meet its commercialization challenges. 

The report urges action and synergy by a multitude of players such as governments, fusion developers, suppliers, academia, and trade bodies. Recommended areas of action include: strategic workforce development initiatives, resource centres and skills guidelines, research and technology development programs, and targeted support for workers. It also calls for clear regulatory frameworks, public-private partnerships, and international collaboration to drive the industry’s growth and ensure the development of necessary skills.

Read or download the report on the Fusion Industry Association website here.

The team operating the Korean tokamak KSTAR has announced it is running a new campaign of experiments focused on developing high-performance plasma scenarios. From now through February 2025, experiments will focus on:

* achieving advanced plasma confinement under high-temperature, high-density, and high-current conditions

* testing technologies for instability suppression

* researching tungsten impurity control through tungsten divertor testing and in-depth wall studies

In addition, the KSTAR team is planning over 40 collaborative experiments tackling fusion challenges with international partners, including research teams from DIII-D (USA) and WEST (France), and collaborators in Japan and China. These international partnerships will further expand to include the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and other nations in the future.

See a full report on the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy website here.

A new report from the non-profit environmental organization Clean Air Task Force (CATF) explores how artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) are accelerating fusion energy development in key areas, including materials selection, high-temperature superconductors, inertial fusion energy, tritium breeding, and advanced diagnostics.

A Survey of Artificial Intelligence and High Performance Computing Applications to Fusion Commercialization was released as the COP29 climate conference was underway in Azerbaijan and introduced at the ITER booth on 15 November by Sehila Gonzalez de Vicente, CATF Global Director for Fusion Energy.

Key findings from the 119-page report include: 

• The arrival of new cloud-based computing tools and AI accelerates prospects for commercialized fusion energy
• The new ecosystem for high-performance computing and AI will be critical in both how we deliver and use fusion energy
• The fusion-tech nexus could deliver revolutionary results in materials science, control systems, and superconductors

From the report's Executive Summary: "Until recently, fusion's rate of progress was set by empirical science: building machines and testing ideas, generating datasets, and then choosing the next design based on empirical scaling. This manual design process could be a years-to-decades-long process. [...] Today, AI and HPC can speed up progress by doing much of the empirical scaling 'in silico.’ HPC-enabled “parameter sweeping,” or determining which design configurations are potentially viable, helps narrow down the nearly infinite range of possible machine parameters. [...] The speed at which these tools work can drastically reduce the time it takes for developers to move from initial exploration to a basic conceptual design suitable for further development. Furthermore, advancements in cloud-based HPC have democratized access to computational tools that were previously limited to dedicated supercomputers. This has broadened access to high-performance computing across the fusion ecosystem, enabling a diverse range of concepts, including less common fusion concepts, to take advantage of modern simulation tools to accelerate the investigation and optimization of their designs. [...] AI and HPC’s ability to change the design process itself could assist with bringing facilities online sooner."

Read the full report and executive summary.

Watch the presentation of the report that was made at the ITER COP29 booth on 15 November.

A new video explores how the WEST tokamak, run and operated by the Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM) at the French Alternatives Energies and Atomic Energy Commission's Cadarache site near ITER, is helping to prepare for ITER operation.

WEST, for W (tungsten) Environment in Steady-state Tokamak, is the former Tore Supra, transformed with a full-tungsten, actively cooled divertor that is based on the same design and technology as the ITER tungsten divertor. Experiments at WEST allow scientists and engineers to address risks both in terms of industrial-scale manufacturing and in the operation of the components. A joint team made up of representatives of the CEA, the ITER Organization and the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy meets regularly to coordinate tests and share the lessons learned from the WEST experiments.

WEST is currently running a campaign of tests. Join the team in the control room here.

At the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin (7-9 November 2024), global experts gathered to discuss how innovation intersects with societal needs, and how resilient, sustainable systems can be created to bridge science with real-world applications. The ITER Project at the Summit by its Director-General, Pietro Barabaschi, who took part in a plenary table on "Fusion Technology:  Energy for a Sustainable Future." Other participants were moderator Norbert Holtkamp, former ITER Principal Deputy Director-General (2006-2010), Kimberly Budil, Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and Constantin Häfner, Managing Director at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology.

A recording of the plenary table is available at this link (beginning at 2:30:00).

Fourteen years after the start of ITER project construction, the buildings of the scientific installation are nearly complete—except for the Hot Cell Facility, whose construction is not yet underway. Equipment installation is well advanced and a number of plants are operational. ITER's drone videographer spent a week on site in October 2024, filming some of the most unique and unexpected areas. The result? A series of new aerial photos available for download from the ITER image galleries.

See the latest aerial photos here.

At least once a year, the ITER worksite is surveyed by drone from every possible angle—from the widest frame (a kilometre above the platform) to the narrowest (in and out of components staged for assembly). The results of the latest campaign in October 2024 can be viewed in the form of a five-minute video that shows the progress on site since the last time the ITER Organization published a drone video, one year ago. As the drone takes you in and around the main buildings of the ITER scientific installation you'll see the complexity of the ITER industrial plants, ongoing repairs to critical machine elements, components arriving from overseas, and the day-to-day reality for the thousands of workers involved in building ITER.

See the latest video on the ITER YouTube channel or on the website's video page here (select "Drone videos" in the dropdown list).

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has just published Fusion Key Elements, a document that aims to build a common understanding of the pathway from research, development and demonstration to the commercialization of fusion energy and to chart a collaborative framework that helps to sustain and move forward fusion energy initiatives globally. The new publication, launched on 6 November 2024 at the inaugural ministerial meeting of the World Fusion Energy Group in Rome, is intended for research scientists and engineers engaged in fusion research and development, regulators, entrepreneurs or stakeholders involved in the development of fusion technology, and policymakers.

"In such a rapidly evolving sector, cultivating a common understanding of key considerations surrounding fusion energy is essential. This understanding encompasses everything from research and development to deployment and commercialization, forming the foundation for navigating the complexities and opportunities of the fusion energy landscape. This publication provides a comprehensive overview of the six key elements necessary for a shared vision in fusion energy development, thereby facilitating a unified approach to advancing fusion as a cornerstone of future energy solutions."

Consult or download Fusion Key Elements at this address. Also available in French here.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been promoting fusion energy research and development for over 60 years, and it continues to strongly support research and development and future deployment by bringing the fusion community together to create solutions for both scientific and technological challenges. This second issue of the World Fusion Outlook outlines achievements in fusion energy, features fusion plant concepts under development and their timelines, policy frameworks, and trends in both public and private investment. It also covers research output metrics and offers regional and sectoral outlooks.

At least 20 fusion plant concepts are at various stages of development in Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States with the target completion dates ranging between the late 2020s and mid-2050s. These concepts are being developed by individual governments, private companies and some public–private joint ventures.

Read or download the full report at this address. Also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.

The DIII-D tokamak team at General Atomics (San Diego, US) is celebrating a milestone this month—achieving, and passing, the 200,000th plasma shot since the device began operating in the mid-1980s.

“While completing 200,000 shots is impressive in its own right, this achievement is far more than a mere number,” said Dr. Richard Buttery, Director of the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. “Those shots represent steady, important progress on the road to fusion energy. Each one is a challenge solved, a question answered, a career begun or progressed, or a new technology proven. In a very real sense, the history of DIII-D is a history of fusion energy research, and we are very excited for what we have planned for DIII-D in the future.”

See the full DIII-D press release here.

--DIII-D users celebrate as the machine reaches its 200,000th experimental cycle. (General Atomics)

Arriving at the French port of Fos-sur-Mer from Monfalcone, Italy, was only the first stage of transport for vacuum vessel sector 5. Next, it had to be transported by barge across the inland sea Étang de Berre (155 km²). The European-made sector successfully made the crossing on 11 October.

This month, ITER will be launching a new version of its public website. The change was compelled for technical reasons, including the need to ensure reliability for a website that has grown considerably over the past 10 years. The ITER Organization took advantage of the opportunity to update and modernize the design. Readers will see new branding, faster data retrieval, and a more dynamic interface. The navigation will remain similar to the existing site, for familiarity. Look out for the change on Saturday 19 October.

We look forward to your feedback at ITERCommunications@iter.org. 

The JT-60SA experiment has been officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's largest tokamak, as measured in terms of plasma volume.

On 4 September 2024 the device, built and exploited by Japan's National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST) in conjunction with Europe's Fusion for Energy (F4E), achieved a plasma volume of 160 cubic metres, exceeding the previous world record of 100 cubic metres. A certification ceremony is planned on Saturday 19 October at the Naka Institute for Fusion Science and Technology.

JT-60SA has been designed to support the operation of ITER by following a complementary research and development program, and to investigate how best to optimize the operation of fusion power plants that are built after ITER. Further details of its experimental program are explained in the JT-60SA Research Plan.

-- Photo: Fusion for Energy

EUROfusion “Bernard Bigot” Researcher Grants (ERG) are awarded annually to promising fusion researchers at the post-doctoral stage of their career. Named after the former ITER Director-General (2015-2022), they seek to enable the development of innovative ideas and techniques through grants that cover part of the salaries of the selected candidates and part of the cost of their research activities and missions for a duration of up to two years.

Winners have been announced for the 2024 cycle, for research projects selected on the basis of excellence and novelty.

See the full list on the EUROfusion website.

On 21 November 2024, the European Fusion Education Network FuseNet will organize the FuseNet Student Event. All Bachelor and Master's students interested in fusion are welcome to join online.

During interactive lectures over the course of the day, you will learn about state-of-the-art fusion topics and the role of industry. During the casual social events, you will meet fusion students from all over the world and create a network of future colleagues.

For more information or to sign up see this website. The registration deadline is 14 November.

Late September, ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi is honoured with the 2024 Chinese Government Friendship Award in a ceremony in Beijing. This is the highest award granted by the People's Republic of China to foreigners who have made "outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress." Also pictured is fellow recipient Tony Donné (left), physicist and former head of EUROfusion, and WU Sha from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science.

New results from the JET tokamak offer positive news for tokamak reactor designs based on deuterium-tritium fuel, according to the European Consortium for the Development of Fusion Energy, EUROfusion.

Reporting on experiments run in deuterium-tritium (DT) during JET's record-breaking campaign in 2021—and comparing them to control experiments performed in pure deuterium (DD)—EUROfusion researchers found that future fusion power plants using DT fuel may experience fewer energy losses in their burning plasma due to instabilities than previously anticipated.

"Our goal was to study whether our earlier findings on turbulence reduction in tokamak plasmas with high-energy ions could be replicated in DT plasmas, the primary fuel for the international ITER project and future fusion power plants," explain Jeronimo Garcia (CEA-IRFM, France) and Yevgen Kazakov (LPP-ERM/KMS, Belgium), the leading authors of a paper* published in Nature Communications.  

What they found in experiments that replicated ITER conditions as closely as possible was that, with tritium in the mix, core plasma conditions actually improved. They also observed "a new beneficial state" at the edge of the plasma, without unwanted energy bursts. "Our results demonstrate that the addition of heavier tritium ions has a calming effect on the plasma, reducing turbulence," says Garcia.

This is good news for ITER and future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Alberto Loarte, head of the ITER Science Division, had this reaction: "The results in these studies show that there is better-than-expected performance in DT plasmas compared with DD plasmas; in particular, instabilities triggered by fast particles in DT plasmas such as those expected for fast helium produced by fusion in ITER can reduce energy losses from the plasma and increase fusion performance. The studies show that if instabilities remain at low levels they actually increase performance, whereas we had formerly assumed that they would most likely decrease it. The results also show that in conditions that are relevant to ITER, it might be possible to replace the intermittent burst of plasma energy through edge localized modes (ELMs) through a much more benign continuous outflow more easily handled by the wall in ITER."

See the original story on the EUROfusion website here.

*J. Garcia, Y. Kazakov et al., Nature Communications 15, 7846 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52182-z

--Image: D-T plasma in JET pulse #99896, together with the computed zonal poloidal flows. Credits — plasma photo: UKAEA; flow calculation: FAR3D code

Speaking at a round table on the green energy transition at the Forum Aix-Marseille economic conference, head of the ITER Science & Integration Department Alain Becoulet said the fusion ecosystem was developing rapidly but wouldn’t be ready to meet short-term decarbonization goals.

“This is an important moment for humanity because the technology is coming out of the research laboratory and being demonstrated,” noted Becoulet. “ITER is part of a flotilla of advances in fusion research, industrial testing, and private-sector investment. This is creating the ecosystem and supply chain that will be needed to roll out this energy source on a planetary scale.”

However, Becoulet warned that even after the first fusion power plant is successfully demonstrated, it will take decades to build the thousands of plants required for a global energy transition. He added that in the meantime, broader use of conventional fission plants or new SMRs (small modular reactors) could reduce carbon emissions.

The conclusions of the day's debates and discussions will be shared at the national Cercle des Etats de la France conference, which helps shape France’s economic policies.