"The plasma-surface interaction in ITER is an exploration of the unknown, so we'd better have an experimental facility where we can really achieve the conditions of ITER," Lopez-Cardozo said. "Magnum-PSI is that facility. It is the only device in the world capable of working in this parameter campaign."
On behalf of the ITER Organization, Director-General Osamu Motojima congratulated the institute on its milestone. "The opening of Magnum-PSI is of great significance to the ITER project and to the whole fusion community. This installation will enable us to anticipate the way materials behave—and fatigue—when in prolonged contact with a fusion plasma. The work accomplished here will be of the utmost importance for ITER and for what lies beyond."
Richard Pitts, senior scientist for the Divertor & Plasma Wall Interactions Section at ITER, stressed the importance of the facility for materials research. "Materials—and I think we all agree here—are the biggest challenge for the development of fusion energy. With Magnum-PSI you now have an absolutely fabulous piece of equipment that is capable of exposing materials and material technologies to long-pulse plasmas at ITER divertor-relevant power and particle flux densities in a strong magnetic field. The value of Magnum-PSI is considerable."