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FEC 2020

Celebrating 60 years of Fusion Energy Conferences

17 May 2021
"It is the year 1958. For the second time, the United Nations have invited the nuclear community to its headquarters in the Swiss capital of Geneva to discuss the peaceful use of the atom. And it is during this week of September that history is written. After decades of research carried out in top secrecy behind both sides of the Iron Curtain, the status of work on controlled nuclear fusion is disclosed to the world at large."
FEC-60years.JPG
Beginning in 1961, the world fusion community would meet in a different city in a different country every three years. The IAEA Fusion Energy Conference series soon became the pre-eminent gathering for fusion scientists and engineers.
So begins the narration of a commemorative video produced by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with the support of the ITER Organization, on 60 years of the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference.

The second Atoms for Peace conference marked the beginning of global cooperation on nuclear fusion, and the starting point of the IAEA's support activities. The IAEA's Fusion Energy Conference (FEC) series was established in 1961, and from then on the international fusion community met in a different city in a different country every three years—the main platform, before the age of internet—for discussing key physics and technology issues and innovative concepts directly relevant to the use of nuclear fusion as a future energy source.

The number of papers submitted for the FEC has increased significantly over the years, from 100 to 150 papers in the 1960s to over 700 in the last decade, and the number of participants has doubled from 500 to over 1,000. Today, more than 40 countries and international organizations attend the FEC.

The 40-minute film, featuring historic photos and video footage, premiered at the FEC 2020 conference in May 2021.

If you had registered for the conference, the video can be viewed in replay here. For others, the video is available on the ITER Organization YouTube channel.

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