Of Interest archive

The international ITER Business Forum (IBF/25) offers the opportunity to connect with global enterprises and create valuable business partnerships in fusion energy. Meet key players in the fusion supply chain—from companies and startups, to innovators shaping the global landscape. Approximately 850 people from 360 companies are currently registered and the industrial exhibition is sold-out (see the list of exhibitors here).

Join them in Marseille, France, from 23 to 25 April 2025 by signing up at this link.

The second ITER Private Sector Fusion Workshop will take place at ITER Headquarters in France on 22-23 April 2025.  

The aim of the workshop is threefold: to help the private sector best take advantage of ITER's new mechanisms for knowledge sharing and collaboration; to understand who is doing what to solve the remaining fusion technology challenges; and to highlight the capacities of the global fusion supply chain.

An updated program has just been published on the workshop website. Registration closes on Friday 11 April 2025. 

There is also still time to sign up for the ITER Business Forum (IBF/25) through 23 April on this website. The two events are highly complementary. 

US ITER and Oak Ridge National Laboratory host a visit from ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi in late March. Highlights of the visit include the opportunity to present ITER status to the laboratory community, an informal US ITER all-hands Q&A session, and a visit to ORNL fusion labs including test stands for ITER plasma heating components and disruption mitigation studies. He also toured the now-under-construction Materials Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX), which will be a tool for studying plasma-materials interactions for future fusion devices.

US ITER is managed by ORNL, in partnership with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Savannah River National Laboratory, under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences.

See the US ITER website here.

Ever wonder how scientists are trying to recreate the power of the sun on Earth? In our latest ITER podcast episode, we dive into the fascinating world of tokamaks—donut-shaped magnetic cages that could be the key to unlimited clean energy. Join us in Season 3 of the ITER podcast as we unravel the mysteries of fusion with expert insights from ITER scientists, exploring how decades of research are bringing us closer to harnessing the same energy that powers stars. From tiny experimental devices to massive reactors, discover the incredible journey of fusion science and why tokamaks might just be humanity's most promising path to sustainable power.

Episode 2 of Behind the Science of Fusion is available now.

Look up "Tokamaks" on the podcast page of the ITER website or open it directly here. You can also find the the ITER podcast at Podbean, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and Deezer.

The prestigious Women in Nuclear (WiN) Global Excellence Award is a chance to celebrate an individual who has communicated consistently, effectively and positively the key messages for the nuclear industry and nuclear applications.

The successful candidate will be offered free registration at the WiN Global 32nd Annual Conference in London (14-18 July 2025) and the opportunity to speak at the Annual Conference.

For application criteria see the WiN website. Apply by 13 April 2025.

Fusion Power Associates is calling out for nominations for two awards:

* The 2025 Leadership and Distinguished Career Awards (nominations are sought by 1 August). No supporting material is required for these nominations, although supporting statements are appreciated.

* The 2025 Excellence in Fusion Engineering Awards (Nominations are sought by 15 August). The purpose is to recognize individuals in the early part of their careers (maximum age 42) with both technical accomplishment and demonstrated leadership qualities. Nominating material should include the candidate's bio and letters of recommendation, including at least one letter from outside the nominee's home institution. 

Nominations and nominating material should preferably be sent electronically to fusionpwrassoc@aol.com.

The purpose, criteria and list of previous recipients for all awards are posted at http://fusionpower.org (click on Awards). For questions contact: fusionpwrassoc@aol.com

From 13 April to 13 October 2025, the World EXPO will open its gates in Osaka, Japan. As part of the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” 158 countries and organizations will showcase—in spectacular fashion—their cultural heritage and forward-thinking projects.

As part of the EXPO2025, ITER will have a prominent presence in the International Organizations Pavilion, where we will present the promise of fusion energy and the global collaboration that drives our pursuit of this transformative energy source.

Half-way through the six-month exhibition, on 13 July, ITER will host a special FUSION DAY in the National Day Hall with presentations, animations and video screenings.

If you are interested to visit the ITER exhibit or if you would like to attend the Special Fusion Day, please write to EXPO2025@iter.org.

We very much look forward to seeing you in Osaka.

Sign up before 1 April 2025 for this year's ITER International School on the topic of "Integrated Modelling in Magnetic Fusion Plasmas." The school will take place in Aix-en-Provence, France, from 30 June to 4 July 2025.

The scientific program, with 15 lectures and a half-day planned at ITER, is now available on the School's website. The deadline for pre-registration & abstract submission is 1 April 2025.

See this poster for distribution in your institutes and universities.

The ITER Business Forum 2025 (IBF/25) will take place in Marseille, France, from 23 to 25 April 2025.

Through plenary sessions, workshops, and B2B meetings, expand your network and meet key players in the fusion supply chain, from regional and international companies to innovators shaping the future of energy. Get the latest on the ITER baseline and procurement opportunities, and meet representatives of the private fusion sector and its supply chain needs.

A general overview of the agenda is available now and includes 16 themed workshops bringing together experts from many different horizons. For supply chain companies, the Forum offers the opportunity to learn about a broader range of procurement needs. For startups, it enables concentrated access to a global set of companies with fusion-specific capabilities. Registration is open now. For industrial exhibitors, the deadline for registration is 28 March 2025.

Visit the IBF/25 website for more information.

All interested parties are also welcome at the second Private Sector Fusion Workshop, to be hosted at the ITER site right before IBF/25, on 22-23 April 2025 (priority will be given to participation by private sector fusion initiatives). See all information on this website.

From 19-20 February 2025 the historic city of Aachen, Germany—the main residence of Charlemagne—hosted the first binding.energy¹ conference, an international gathering on nuclear technology. Around 130 experts, 50 of them online, joined the discussions on the latest advancements in both fission and fusion technologies.

Organized by the German company Actimondo, the conference provided a platform to share views on challenges and opportunities in nuclear technology such as material science, political strategy, private sector growth, regulatory framework, emerging markets, supply chain development, radiation protection, as well as workforce development and education.

ITER’s Deputy Director Alain Becoulet presented a comprehensive project update. At its stand in the small exhibition area, ITER was joined by FuseNet whose Executive Officer Dario Cruz also presented education opportunities for young fusion experts in Europe.

¹The name of the conference, binding.energy, stems from a phenomenon in physics which describes the smallest amount of energy required to remove a particle from a system of particles. 

Save the Date! The FuseNet PhD Event 2025 will take place at ITER from 4 to 6 November 2025. 

The annual PhD Event is organized by the European Fusion Education Network, FuseNet, as a network event. Meet and greet fellow fusion researchers from Europe and expand your network. The event features high-profile keynote speakers, a top-notch scientific program and the much anticipate PechaKucha contest, where students present their research in 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide.  

All information will be posted on this page in the coming months. 

On site at ITER in December 2024, Jan Hosan went looking for the human in the technological. 

As a commercial photographer who specializes in technological, industrial and scientific subjects, he says he looks to brings out the "aesthetical and the exciting" in each frame, while remaining true to the subject's function. At ITER he captured the scale and complexity of the undertaking but also—by including people at work in the shadow of giant components—the very human story.

You can scroll through his ITER portfolio here, or contact him here.

We are pleased to announce the launch of an online web-shop, the ITER Boutique: https://shop-iter.org/.

Here you will be able to order ITER-branded clothing, office items, travel accessories and more for delivery to your home or address of choice. Boutique products range from simple pens and umbrellas to a mug featuring the Grad-Shafranov fusion equation, T-shirts illustrating the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction or the architecture of the ITER tokamak, and tote bags and water bottles featuring ITER-specific slogans and technical details.

The boutique is operated by an ITER contractor, Synneo. Questions about products and services can be addressed to their experts, here.  Over time, we will add more items to the inventory.

Many of our followers have requested such a shop in the past. We hope you will enjoy showing your support with ITER-branded merchandise.

In December 2024 Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Viola Amherd, President of the Swiss Confederation in 2024, confirmed the completion of negotiations on a broad package of agreements that aim to “deepen and expand the EU-Switzerland relationship.”

As part of the agreements, Switzerland will participate in all three pillars of Horizon Europe (the European Union's key funding program for research and innovation) and the Euratom research and training program. It is under this latter program that Switzerland participated in the ITER project through the European Joint Undertaking for ITER (Fusion for Energy) from 2014 to 2020.

The restart of Switzerland's association to the Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, and Euratom Research and Training programs is foreseen in 2025, subject to the signature of the agreement on Union programs. Switzerland's participation in Fusion for Energy is foreseen to start from 2026, and in Erasmus+ from 2027.

Switzerland will again become a full member of Fusion for Energy, taking part in its governance and allowing Swiss companies and research centres to participate in ITER.

See press releases from the European Commission and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation.

--European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the Swiss Confederation for 2024 Viola Amherd at a joint press conference in Bern on 20 December 2024 to announce the political agreement. (Photo credit: Keystone-SDA)

The 14th ITER International School (IIS) will be held from 30 June to 4 July in Aix-en-Provence, France, hosted by Aix-Marseille University. The subject of the school is "Integrated Modelling in Magnetic Fusion Plasmas."

Reliable predictions of ITER plasmas—spanning the entire cross-section from the plasma core and scrape-off layer (SOL) to the material surface—are critical for achieving ITER’s fusion power demonstration goals. Such predictions are indispensable for defining and preparing plasma operational scenarios, analyzing the plasma pulses planned for ITER, and evaluating required control schemes via simulations of measurements, actuators, and plasma responses. Given the strongly nonlinear coupling of the processes that govern the behavior of burning plasmas, modeling individual processes or plasma regions in an isolated fashion is not sufficient. A holistic, integrated approach is therefore mandatory. The 2025 school will address these needs and explore the integrated modeling capabilities and validation aspects on existing facilities necessary to prepare ITERs operation and to support ITER’s broader scientific objectives.

All information about IIS 2025 is available at this address.

Download the school poster here.

The ITER Business Forum 2025 (IBF/25) will take place in Marseille, France from 23 to 25 April 2025.

Through plenary sessions, workshops, and B2B meetings, expand your network and meet key players in the fusion supply chain, from regional and international companies to innovators shaping the future of energy. Get the latest on the ITER baseline and procurement opportunities, and meet representatives of the private fusion sector and its supply chain needs.

A general overview of the agenda is available now and includes 16 themed workshops bringing together experts from many different horizons. For supply chain companies, the Forum offers the opportunity to learn about a broader range of procurement needs. For startups, it enables concentrated access to a global set of companies with fusion-specific capabilities.

Registration is open now. For industrial exhibitors, the deadline for registration is 28 March 2025.

Visit the IBF/25 website for more information.

The first documentary film Starmaker was released in 2022 by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority UKAEA. It retraced the journey of the passionate group of men and women working at the JET tokamak to realize the promise of fusion energy.

Starmakers 2 is the exciting sequel, taking us behind the scenes at JET during its final year of groundbreaking scientific operations. The film also takes a step back in time to explore the human stories and legacy of this iconic facility, which continues to pave the way for future advancements in fusion science and technology.

The film premieres on 23 January 2025 at the Cornerstone Arts Centre in Didcot. (See ticketing information here.) Its availability after release on digital platforms will be announced at a later date. 

The 2025 Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE 2025) is planned from 23 to 26 June 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts, hosted by the MIT Plasma Science & Fusion Center. 

Abstract submission has been extended through 24 January 2025.  Early bird conference registration will open on 5 March, the same day abstract acceptance decisions are sent out.

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). It is an international conference open to all engineering, physics and material science disciplines involved in the pursuit of producing the components and systems needed to advance fusion physics and technology. 

Submit your abstract here. 

The ITER Organization has just released a 200-page photobook that covers progress in construction, manufacturing and assembly between 2013 and 2024. 

In 2013, work was ending on the foundations of the Tokamak Complex but no walls were yet built; today civil work has been completed on the 430,000-tonne Complex and efforts have shifted to installing and assembling plant equipment and machine components.

In 2013, only two buildings existed on the ITER site in southern France and mountains of dirt were the most common feature on the platform as contractors worked to install underground drainage networks; today the scientific installation is essentially complete except for the future Hot Cell and the first activities from the control room to manage the plant are scheduled for 19 December 2024.

In 2013, 515 people worked as staff members for the ITER Organization; today, that figure has doubled.

"ITER Progress in Pictures 2013-2024, Construction, Manufacturing & Assembly" covers it all. Visit the Publication Centre on the ITER website (Brochures).

The 360° virtual tour of ITER construction has been updated with drone footage from October 2024. Discover the principal buildings of the ITER worksite, and the equipment inside, by clicking on and rotating the 360° photos.

Accessible from the NEWS & MEDIA pages of the ITER website or by clicking on the link below, the 2D tour requires no special equipment to enjoy. If you do have 3D glasses, click on the yellow goggle symbol at the top of any screen.

Click here to see the latest 360° ITER virtual tour.