Gabriel Marbach becomes head of IRFM

Gabriel Marbach has been nominated as the new head of the Institute of Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM), the fusion branch within CEA that operates the Tore Supra tokamak. He has been the deputy to the former head Michel Chatelier for seven years.

Gabriel Marbach, a mechanical engineer who started his career in the development of fast breeder reactors, was one of the active promoters of ITER during negotiations, introducing the project to the public, stakeholders and also to the French authorities.

As head of the IRFM, Marbach is in charge of around 300 staff. One of the main objectives of the Institute is to develop the control of long plasma discharges in terms of plasma physics, technology, and operation. A major step will be the installation on Tore Supra of an enhancement of the current drive systems next year. Another mission of the Institute is to contribute to ITER and the Broader Approach projects.