Fusion Energy Research Centre opens in Rokkasho

Only ten months after the groundbreaking ceremony (anzenkigansai), the International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC)—also called the Broader Approach site—was opened at Rokkasho, Japan on 30 March. About 50 people from the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and from the IFMIF/EVEDA Project Team moved to this new site. The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) and related Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (EVEDA) are part of the Broader Approach Agreement between the European Union and Japan. IFMIF will be an accelerator-based neutron irradiation facility that will focus on developing and characterizing fusion reactor materials.

The official inauguration of the IFERC will be held on 10 April, in the presence of the Governor of the Aomori prefecture, Mr. Mimura; the Mayor of Rokkasho, Mr. Furukawa; a representative of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); and the president of JAEA, Mr. Okazaki. The ITER Director-General, Kaname Ikeda, will send a video message on this occasion. The other buildings such as the supercomputer and remote experiment building, the DEMO R&D building, and accelerator prototype building will become available in March 2010.