International Fusion Energy Research Centre inaugurated in Japan

20 Jul 2007 - Sabina Griffith

Unveiling ceremony of the nameplate by Mr. Tadamori Oshima, a member of the Diet, schoolchildren of the Obuchi primary school, Mr. Toshio Okazaki, President of JAEA, and Mr. Pascal Garin, the Project Leader of the "Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (EVEDA)" of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF), which is part of the Broader Approach.

On 3 July, the "International Fusion Energy Research Centre" and the "Aomori Research and Development Centre" were officially opened in Rokkasho in the Aomori prefecture, Japan. The new facilities are to conduct fusion R&D towards ITER and the Broader Approach Agreement between Japan and Europe.

More than 200 guests participated in the ceremony, including Shingo Mimura, the Governor of Aomori Prefecture, Tadamori Oshima, member of the House of Diet and the First Counselor of the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan, Philippe de Taxis du Poet, who all stressed the great significance of the projects. Also present was Kenji Furukawa, the Mayor of Rokkasho village and many residents, among them 20 children from the local school.

In a congratulation telegram the French High Commissioner for Atomic Energy, Bernard Bigot, expressed his strongest support for ITER and the Broader Approach. "We have great hope in these two projects and will do our best, on our part, to make them a large success in order to reach as soon as possible our common goal: to offer the possibility of using fusion energy for the whole world."

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