Of Interest archive

In the latest episode of the ITER Talks series, join ITER specialist Robert Pearce for a voyage into the universe of vacuum. Is vacuum absolutely nothing ... or is it something more than you could imagine? Does a "perfect vacuum" exist? How can vacuum be defined and measured, and how did scientists come to understand it? What is the importance of vacuum for ITER?

As head of the Vacuum Delivery & Installation Section at ITER, Pearce is responsible for the systems that will create the necessary vacuum conditions not only in the plasma chamber and the cryostat, but also in heating, diagnostic and auxiliary systems.

Watch the fourth episode of the ITER Talks here.

See the full ITER Talks playlist here.

A new episode of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Sound of Science podcast puts the focus on fusion.

"Building a sun on Earth to produce unlimited, carbon-free energy may sound like science fiction, but it's not. It's a nuclear process called fusion, where two atoms join together and create an abundance of energy. Recreating the power of a star is no easy feat, but scientists across the globe are hard at work to make it a reality. From materials, to confining sun-hot plasmas, to fuel, there are a lot of scientific challenges to overcome to build a fusion reactor. In this episode, we talked to several Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists about how they are tackling these problems and why the future of fusion looks brighter than ever right now."

Listen to "Fusion: Energy at the Extreme" here (30').

On Wednesday, 8 December 2021, Al Jazeera's The Stream asked: Could fusion energy be the clean energy answer to the climate crisis?

Recent advances have led to a rise in interest and funding from investors who want to see the first energy-creating fusion machine and eventually the first fusion power plant to generate power that is safe and free of carbon emissions. How far are we away from re-creating the energy source of the Sun?

Host Josh Rushing speaks with Tim Luce, chief scientist at the ITER Organization; Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association; and Tammy Ma, from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility.

Watch a replay of the 25-minute show here.

A new series of webinars on burning plasma physics has been announced by the U.S. Burning Plasma Organization (USBPO). The webinars will focus on the implications for burning plasma physics of different types of fusion devices including the tokamak, the stellarator, high-field devices and new concepts. The webinar series is organized in the context of long-range fusion energy planning activities that have been launched in the United States, but the updates on recent developments can interest the worldwide community. Seven webinars are planned (dates subject to confirmation).

See more about the new webinar series here.

See the sign up link at the end of this document.

USBPO works to advance the scientific understanding of burning plasmas and coordinates relevant fusion research in the United States with broad community participation. See https://burningplasma.org/. 

The 2021 Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) will take place exclusively on line from 12 to 16 December 2021. It will be co-located on the same virtual platform as the IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPE), offering participants enhanced opportunities for social and technical interaction.

Held biennially since 1965, SOFE is coordinated by the Fusion Technology Committee of the IEEE/NPSS (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Nuclear & Plasma Sciences Society). The Symposium is dedicated to the scientific, technological and engineering issues of fusion energy research and is a mixture of oral presentations and poster sessions. 

Head of the ITER Engineering Domain Alain Bécoulet will be  presenting the status of ITER assembly in the Opening Plenary. Other ITER presenters will discuss tokamak assembly, diagnostic engineering and integration, and the ITER in-vessel coils.

There is still time to sign up at PPC-SOFE 2021.

ITER was represented earlier this month at the world's largest exhibition dedicated to the civil nuclear sector—the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), which was organized in Paris and virtually from 30 November to 2 December 2021.

WNE brings together the global civil nuclear community once every two years for networking and discussions of the major challenges facing the industry and society. This year's edition, which attracted more than 600 exhibitors from 83 countries and approximately 18,000 participants, was organized around the theme "The nuclear industry, a key partner for a low-carbon society in a responsible future."  

Organizers highlighted the role that the global nuclear sector can play as a "steerable, non-intermittent, and competitive" source of electricity in the fight against climate change and the effort to move toward a sustainable low-carbon-emissions future. "R&D in new technologies and concepts are stimulating the sector as well as business and job prospects and competitiveness within the entire value chain," stressed WNE President Sylvie Bermann. 

In her address on the opening day, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson placed ITER squarely in the category of "disruptive innovations. "The benefit for international scientific collaboration and the potential spill-over effect for technological innovation is hugely significant."

At the ITER stand, in space shared with the European Commission and the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy, there was a steady stream of interested visitors over three days. The most common question from nuclear industry representatives was: "How can we get involved in fusion?"

(Photo: Philippe Eranian)

The ITER Organization has kicked off its 2022 internship program with the publication of 68 offers on the ITER website (visit Jobs/Internships here: https://www.iter.org/jobs/internships).

These opportunities are geared toward undergraduate and postgraduate students, with a broad array of topics across scientific, technical and support departments. Science, technology, systems engineering, business operations, and construction and installation are all represented in this year's batch of internship opportunities.

Positions are offered for up to six months; some categories are extendable to one year. Apply before 16 February 2022 (or 16 January 2022 for internships beginning in Q1 2022) through the online e-recruiting system. (Please note that internship opportunities are limited to nationals from countries participating in the ITER Project, i.e., China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russian Federation and the United States.)

Recruitment opens for the next Monaco-ITER Postdoctoral Fellowship campaign on 17 January 2022. If your PhD was awarded after 1 January 2019—or you are about to obtain one—and you are interested in participating in one of the great scientific and technical challenges of the 21st century, this may be an opportunity for you.

ITER is seek top candidates with an excellent track record of creativity and accomplishment. Research possibilities exist in many areas of fusion science and technology, including: control technology; plasma-facing materials and components; burning plasma physics (confinement, stability, plasma-wall interactions, control, energetic particle physics); heating and current drive physics and technology; fusion plasma diagnostics; superconducting magnet technology; electrical engineering; mechanical engineering/structural analysis; remote handling technology; vacuum technology and plasma fuelling technology; cryogenics; tokamak operations; tritium breeding and tritium handling technology; and thermohydraulics.

The 2022 campaign opens on 17 January 2022 and closes on 1 March 2022. Five researchers, selected from among applicants from the seven ITER Members or from the Principality of Monaco, will be recruited for two-year positions (all positions must be taken up by 31 December 2021).

For all information, see this ITER webpage.

Download the campaign poster here. 

Bertrand, creator of the YouTube channel J'm'énerve pas, j'explique ("I don't get mad, I explain"), manages to explain physics, astrophysics and cosmology in videos that blend detailed explanation, home-made graphics and humour. After producing popular videos on particle accelerators, the Large Hadron Collider, and the Higgs boson, he has turned to ITER science. In a 35-minute video release in November 2021 he covers nuclear fusion in the Sun, the history of fusion in the laboratory, and the ambition of the ITER Project. Why will ITER use hydrogen isotopes as fuel? How will the experiment create temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius? How will materials survive inside of the plasma chamber? Why does the tokamak have to be so large?

You can watch it (in French) on the J'm'énerve pas, j'explique YouTube channel here. 

Who knows how much energy 1 joule represents? How much oil does it take to make a mobile phone? How much coal is used in the world? Despite all the debate about this crucial subject, most of us are in fact "energy blind." We often talk about energy without fully appreciating what it means today, or how central it is to all human evolution.

A new book by Greg De Temmerman—an energy physicist with a PhD in experimental physics, managing director at the think tank Zenon Research, and former scientific coordinator at ITER—provides the keys to understanding energy in a fun, short chronicle format.

Available for pre-order in English and French at Editions la Butineuse.

FuseNet is the European Fusion Education Network, formed to promote access to fusion education and build a network of people to make fusion a reality.

If you are a fusion enthusiast in the master's or doctoral phase of your education at one of FuseNet's affiliated member associations, you may be qualified to serve on the FuseNet Student Council.

The Student Council—one of the two permanent FuseNet advisory bodies—is charged with advising the Board of Governors on those matters that are of interest to students. The Council predominantly convenes digitally, but it also has at least one physical meeting each year. Members to the Student Council are appointed for one year, renewable once.

Should you wish to apply to become a member of the FuseNet Student Council, send a 400-word motivation letter and one-page curriculum vitae to student.council@fusenet.eu by 1 December 2021.

Read more about the FuseNet Student Council here.

Scientists, engineers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors interested in fusion are invited to join the International Atomic Energy Agency's first fusion webinar on Monday, 22 November 2021. Among the planned talks on the potential of fusion as a carbon-free energy source and the technology needed to make it possible, Takayoshi Omae will present the "Way Forward for the Fusion Community" on behalf of the ITER Organization. The webinar will also include a panel discussion with chair Melanie Windridge (Fusion Industry Association), who will also welcome questions from participants.

This event, hosted by IAEA's Sehila M. Gonzalez de Vicente, begins at 17:00 CEST and closes at 19:15. Participation is free, but registration is required. Please visit the original announcement, here, for registration details and more information.

(Added on 30 November 2021: You can find the recording of the event here.)

Fusion energy promises a step change in the way the world's future energy demands are met in a low-carbon, safe and sustainable way.

This was the message from scientists and engineers from the fusion energy community to world leaders on the final day of the COP26 conference in Glasgow, on Friday 12 November 2021.

The event, titled "Looking to the Future with Fusion Energy," featured a diverse range of international voices from the fusion community, with a spectrum of perspectives on fusion energy. The science and engineering challenges involved, the status of ITER, and emerging commercial ventures were all part of the discussion. Panel chair Bernard Bigot, ITER Director-General, was joined on stage by Aneeqa Khan, Research Fellow in Fusion at the University of Manchester and former Monaco-ITER Fellow; Sibylle Günter, head of the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics; Amanda Quadling, Director of Materials at the UK Atomic Energy Authority; and Jane Hotchkiss, President of Energy for the Common Good.

Watch the one-hour panel discussion here.

The world needs to mount a "COVID-scale" investment worth hundreds of billions of pounds in green technologies if it is to tackle global warming, the head of Britain's nuclear fusion program Ian Chapman warned in an interview with i News on 11 November.

Speaking ahead of a forum on fusion power at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, the chief executive of  the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) warned that global leaders have not yet fully grasped the urgency and importance of fully funding existing and emerging technologies such as fusion, carbon capture and next generation solar power to provide a full portfolio of green energy sources.

"There are all sorts of things that we should be investing hundreds of billions into and we're not. Globally, we are spending hundreds of billions this year on extracting fossil fuels. As a [global] society, we don't have our priorities in the right place. We should realize that this is an existential problem and deal with it in the same way that we have approached COVID-19, where we have invested heavily in the technology that it going to get us out of the crisis. If we treated climate change in the same way, of course we would deal with it quicker."

Chapman argues that fusion has the potential to replace gas and coal as the source of "base load" continuous energy production to supplement weather-dependent sources of green power.

See the full interview at iNews.

Image credit: KSTAR

On "Youth and Public Empowerment Day" at COP26, ITER and a group of global partners launch INFUSED—the International Fusion Education Initiative. The program curates quality fusion education materials and makes them available to interested students, educators and members of the public. Lectures, MOOCs, videos, virtual tours, games, DIY projects ... see all materials on this ITER webpage: https://www.iter.org/education/infused. 

The U.S. Fusion Outreach Team, a grassroots organization in the fusion community focused on reducing barriers to outreach efforts, has launched a new centralized website to engage an expanding workforce, media, educators, and the public in the journey toward a world powered by fusion energy.

Steffi Diem and Arturo Dominguez, co-leaders of the U.S. Fusion Outreach Team, are coordinating this effort. "We're excited to launch the U.S. Fusion Energy website to provide resources and up-to-date news on our field," said Dominguez. Diem also added, "We hope that this website will engage the public to be part of the fusion movement, recruit a diverse workforce and to provide a community for U.S. fusioneers."

To learn more, visit the website here.

Source: Phys.org

In the Action Hub amphitheatre at COP26, the ITER Organization was invited to present the status of fusion research—both in the south of France, where ITER is being assembled, and worldwide.

Follow the link below to take the Fusion World Tour as presented by Matteo Barbarino (IAEA), Aneeqa Khan (Research Fellow in Fusion at the University of Manchester and former Monaco-ITER Fellow), and Sabina Griffith (ITER Organization). 

Watch a replay of the 4 November 2021 event here. 

As part of Youth Day at United Nations Climate Change Conference, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) organized an event titled "Net Zero World: The Youth Perspective Today & The Future."

The second panel discussion programmed during the event focused on nuclear fusion's role in long-term sustainable energy and examined how international collaboration and innovation can be used to address technical and commercial challenges. "Nuclear Energy—Net Zero Beyond 2050" featured ITER Project Associate Nitendra Singh (nuclear safety engineer) and former Monaco-ITER Fellow Aneeqa Khan (current Research Fellow in Fusion at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom).

Watch a replay of the 5 November 2021 event here. (Forward to 1:14:15 for the start of the second panel discussion.) 

Each year the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) aims to appoint outstanding scientists or engineers who have recently completed a doctorate to a two-year research fellowship in any field of fusion research conducted at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). Candidates need to be highly motivated and show initiative.

The latest campaign is open for application through 17 December 2021. 

Applicants should possess a degree in physics, engineering, materials science or other relevant subject; a relevant PhD  (preferably in fusion research); a record of peer-reviewed publication in high-quality journals; a high degree of motivation and initiative; and good written and oral communication skills.

See all information on the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE/UKAEA) website.

--Photo credit: UKAEA

All seven levels of the ITER Tokamak Building are now covered in smooth and shiny white paint. 

In a nuclear building, the coating on the floors, walls and ceilings must present a perfectly smooth surface in order to be decontaminated in case of an incident or accident. 

European Domestic Agency contractors used approximately 150 tonnes of resin, primer and paint to transform the raw concrete surfaces of the building into a pristine jewel box. Work continues in the nearby Tritium Building, Site Services Building, and Radio Frequency Building. 

See a recent article on the Fusion for Energy website for more information.