Why the world comes to ITER

On June 9, the US Department of Energy (DOE) released the final version of its Fusion Science and Technology (S&T) Roadmap, outlining a coordinated strategy to accelerate commercial fusion deployment. Building on earlier roadmap efforts, the finalized roadmap brings together fusion science, technology, infrastructure, workforce development, and commercialization priorities into a single national strategy to support fusion pilot plants and commercial fusion power in the mid-2030s.

Developed with input from more than 800 scientists and engineers across the public and private sectors, the Roadmap reflects contributions from private companies, national laboratories, and more than 70 universities. It identifies the critical science and technology gaps that must be closed to realize fusion pilot plants and lists the three drivers that underpin the unified national strategy:

• Building critical infrastructure to close fusion materials and technology gaps.
• Innovating through advanced research, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence.
• Growing the US fusion ecosystem through public-private partnerships, supply chain development, workforce growth, and commercialization pathways.

Read or download the US DOE's Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap here.

The experiment team at the joint Japan/Europe international fusion experiment JT-60SA in Naka, Japan, is organizing an onsite training week from 14 to 18 September 2026 in advance of its OP2 operational campaign. Participation in this training is necessary for those interested in participating in JT-60SA control room or operator roles as trainees during this campaign.

The training week will feature lectures about different aspects of operation such as the characteristics of magnets and sub-systems, plasma initiation, real-time control implementation, control room roles and decision flow, experiment implementation, diagnostics, and management. Practical lectures on the use of the human-machine interface (HMI)—the tool used at JT-60SA to prepare for discharges—are also planned.

The call for participation is addressed to members of European scientific institutions/universities involved in EURATOM or members of the Japanese fusion research program and agreed collaborators. Applications from other researchers may be considered on an individual basis depending on their institution’s agreement with the JT-60SA project. Participants must have previous experience in some aspects of operation (diagnostics or sub-system operations, operations leader, session leader).

The deadline to apply is 3 July 2026. See all information on the JT-60SA website.
 

The annual Fusion Power Associates (FPA) award campaign seeks to celebrate excellence across the fusion landscape and contribute to building momentum towards the achievement of practical fusion energy at scale. Fusion Power Associates is now accepting nominations for the 2026 campaign in the following categories:

*FPA Distinguished Career Award - awarded to individuals who have made distinguished, lifelong, career contributions to fusion development.

*FPA Leadership Award - awarded to individuals who have shown outstanding leadership qualities in accelerating the development of fusion.

*FPA Nuno Loureiro Early Career Fusion Award – a new award honouring the memory and contributions of MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro, attributed to a young scientist or engineer who has made significant contributions to fusion research with a focus in the areas of plasma science, theory and computation. 

*FPA David J. Rose Excellence in Fusion Engineering Science Award – an award in memory of MIT Professor David J. Rose, attributed to individuals in the early part of their careers (maximum age 42) who have shown both technical accomplishments and potential for becoming an exceptionally influential leader in the fusion field. 

Winners of the FPA 2026 Awards will be honoured at the FPA annual meeting (2-3 December 2026) in Washington, DC. Information on each of the awards and links to the nomination forms can be found on the FPA Awards landing page. Nominations close on 15 September 2026.

As ITER is actively installing the first wave-producing gyrotrons of its electron cyclotron heating system, the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy was featuring ITER technologies like launchers, gyrotrons and diagnostics in Barcelona at the 23rd Joint Workshop on Electron Cyclotron Emission and Resonance Heating (EC-23) from 18 to 22 May.

Electron cyclotron (EC) waves will play a pivotal role in ITER, and in future fusion reactors more broadly, by providing reliable and efficient heating of the burning plasma. Achieving ITER's scientific objectives requires substantial electron cyclotron resonance heating power, making the development of high-power gyrotrons and robust wave transmission and injection systems a critical area of research and engineering.

The workshop attracted 150 international experts, the highest turnout ever for this biennial scientific event created in 1979. A strong showing from early-career professionals was also a highlight.