Of Interest archive

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.

After Wendelstein 7-X generated a record plasma in February 2023 (lasting 8 minutes with an energy output of 1.3 gigajoules), the stellarator at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany, was shut down for a one-year maintenance phase.

W7-X began a new experimental phase on 10 September, after significant improvements and optimizations were made to the device (see the detail here) to improve the availability and reliability of the systems. In addition, the scientific capabilities of all systems were significantly expanded and important new observation instruments were added.

The scientific program ahead should gradually see an increase in performance parameters, specifically higher heating powers. Wendelstein 7-X is the world's largest fusion device of the stellarator type.

See the press release in English or German.

(Photo Jan Hosan, 2021)

Through a newly launched web platform—the European Fusion Technology Marketplace—Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Domestic Agency for ITER, and EUROfusion, a consortium of European fusion laboratories, are inviting companies to discover and benefit from fusion spinoff technologies.

The website offers companies and experts a diverse portfolio of technologies developed by F4E’s industrial partners and EUROfusion laboratories as part of work for international research programmes and projects such as: ITER, Europe's DEMOstration fusion power plant, the joint Europe/Japan JT-60SA tokamak, the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF), and the International Fusion Energy Research Center IFERC.

"Our experts work to identify their business potential and to facilitate their commercial use. Our services are offered to all companies looking for new market opportunities. We are here to help entrepreneurs, scientists and business willing to integrate fusion technologies in the development of their products," according to the marketplace website.

See all information here.

Fusion for Energy (F4E) has opened a Call of Expressions of Interest for collaboration with private sector fusion initiatives. Its aim is "to support the growth and success of Europe's private sector and foster innovative collaborations that will drive the future of fusion energy."

Interested private sector fusion initiatives must: 1) be established with the purpose of developing a fusion device or technologies specific to fusion (or have a business unit dedicated to this goal); 2) indicate the areas of interest for collaboration which may be fusion-related technical areas, or non-technical (e.g., supply chain, legal, etc.); 3) and have their centre of interest or main operations in an F4E Member State (currently the 27 EU Member States).

If there is a mutual interest to cooperate, an agreement will be signed to allow collaboration in fields to be defined jointly such as, not limited to: exchange of knowledge, information and experience, expertise in fusion technologies, fusion supply chain, corporate governance, scientific analysis etc. No transfer of funds from F4E is foreseen under the terms of the call.

See the related story on the F4E website.

See the Call for Interest here.

Manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries, the fourth and last vacuum vessel sector procured by Korea took to the sea on 24 August. The massive 440-tonne component will travel for approximately one month before reaching the Mediterranean. Due to the situation in the Horn of Africa waters, the ship will take the long way home, rounding the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of the African continent and sailing all the way north to the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean.

Pre-registration ends on 10 September 2024 for the 13th ITER International School, which will be held from 9 to 13 December 2024 in Nagoya hosted by National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), Japan. The theme of the 13th School is "Magnetic Fusion Diagnostics and Data Science."

Diagnostics are key to the achievement of ITER fusion power demonstration goals and they require the application of a wide range of techniques. But diagnostics are not enough to ensure ITER's success; only through advanced analysis of the data they provide will it be possible to guide the experiments towards their fusion power goals. It is timely to address these multidisciplinary areas in the ITER school.

To register, and for all information, open this link.

Fred Mills of The B1M construction channel on YouTube returned to the ITER site this summer to report on ITER after a first video produced in 2022 amassed 4 million views.

In a sleekly produced 30-minute feature he reminds his audience of the potential of nuclear fusion ... and the many challenges. He recounts how the international collaboration got its start in the 1980s, how facility construction began in 2010, and how today, in the context of challenges in assembling the one-million-component machine, the teams are collaborating to solve engineering challenges and deliver solutions.

He calls ITER "the planet's most monumental build." The scale of the ambition, the extent of the engineering, the attention to detail is honestly mind-blowing," he says. "It’s hard to think that the place where I’m standing could one become the birthplace of a new form of energy. This spot could literally see the start of something that could change the world." 

Views have already topped 450,000. See the video on YouTube here.

The Board of Directors of Fusion Power Associates (FPA) has announced its 2024 Excellence in Fusion Engineering Awards. The awards will be presented at Fusion Power Associates 45th Annual Meeting and Symposium "Fusion Energy: Progress, Challenges and Promise," December 2-3, in Washington, DC.

Cami Collins, of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is recognized for her pioneering scientific contributions, including first observation of critical gradient-driven energetic particle transport. The Board also notes her exemplary leadership in advancing U.S. community plans, exceptional record of plasma physics outreach, and strong advocacy for advancing women engagement in fusion research.

Annie Kritcher, of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is recognized for her multi-year leadership of the design activity that led to the achievement of fusion ignition on NIF (National Ignition Facility). The Board noted that, using complex multi-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics simulations, her target designs were used over several years for a set of experiments with a range of target specifications and laser pulse shapes leading to the successes on NIF.

FPA Excellence in Fusion Engineering Awards have been given annually since 1987, in memory of MIT Professor David J. Rose, to recognize persons in the relatively early part of their careers who have shown both technical accomplishment and potential to become exceptionally influential leaders in the fusion field. A list of previous recipients can be found at http://fusionpower.org and click on Awards.

A 440-tonne sector of the ITER vacuum vessel completed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd was transported to the Korean port of Mipo on Friday 23 August. It shipped on 24 August and is expected to reach ITER next month.

This is the fourth and final vacuum vessel sector expected from Korea. Three other sectors arrived respectively in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The torus-shaped ITER vacuum vessel will be formed from nine vacuum vessel sectors. Five sectors are expected from the European Domestic Agency including one, sector #5, later this year.

The Fusion Industry Association has released its 2024 Global Fusion Industry Report. The report, which surveyed 45 companies, found that the fusion industry has attracted over USD 7.1 billion in investment, with USD 900 million in new funds since last year. Total public funding increased by 57% in the last 12 months to USD 426 million, showing that governments increasingly see public-private partnerships as central to making commercial fusion a reality. It also showed the United States leading commercial fusion, with 25 companies, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and China. Additionally, employment in private fusion firms grew by 34% to over 4,000.

More information is available here.