What’s New

15 September 2014

ITER news digest for the period of 8 September 2014 to 15 September 2014.

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Featured (3)

Of interest (7)

Press (6)

Featured

Progress on the PF1 poloidal field magnet

Safety authority inspects fast discharge units in Russia

A protected view of the plasma for ITER diagnostics

ITER's Arnaud Devred receives IEEE award

On 11 August, during the opening session of this year's Applied Superconductivity Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina (US), ITER's Arnaud Devred received the IEEE award "for continuing and significant contributions in the field of applied superconductivity."

The prestigious prize delivered by the IEEE Council on Applied Superconductivity was awarded for his "many and significant contributions to the field of large scale applications."

"I am indebted to many people, who have inspired me and made me the person I am today," said the head of the ITER Superconductor Systems & Auxiliaries Section in his acceptance speech. "One of my greatest privileges—and rewards—is that throughout my carrier I have been able to meet and work with great people. First in Europe, then in the US and Japan, and now from all around the world. Therefore, I would like to share this award with my numerous collaborators in China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States, and, in these times of heightened political tensions, it is my wish that we can keep working together in the same open and peaceful manner—our little contribution to making the world a better place to be."

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=360

Latest ITER Games draw close to 250 competitors

Last Saturday 13 September, the fourth edition of the ITER Games attracted a crowd of close to 250 competitors and their supporters for an all-day sports event including football and tennis competitions, a cross-country run, a kayak race and a petanque tournament. For the participants—people working for the ITER Project, club members from the local sports associations, and their families—this was another opportunity to meet, compete and share ... all ways to strengthen ties between ITER and its environment. (Photo AIF-AP)

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=359

FuseNet PhD Event in November

This year's FuseNet PhD Event will take place on 18—20 November in Lisbon, Portugal.

Organized by the University of Lisbon under the umbrella of the FuseNet Association and with the financial support of EUROfusion, the PhD Event brings together PhD students working in the field of fusion science and engineering. The aim of the event is to enable students to disseminate their research, develop a network of contacts and learn from each other's experiences.

The Event is open to all PhD students involved with research in nuclear fusion research and who are registered at a European university or a FuseNet member university.

The deadline for applications is 15 October 2014 (financial support is available). More information on the event and the application procedure can be found on the FuseNet website.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=358

Read the latest news from the IPFN fusion institute in Portugal

The latest newsletter from the IPFN Institute in Portugal (Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear) is available here.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=357

World's largest metals research consortium to be established with EUR 1bn funding

The world's largest research consortium in the field of metals research and manufacturing is to be created by European industry in the form of Metallurgy Europe. The R&D program has recently been selected as a new Eureka Cluster and will bring together over 170 companies and laboratories from across 20 countries. Funding for the project has been stated as EUR 1 billion over seven years.

The European Powder Metallurgy Association and a number of other European organizations such as the European Space Agency (ESA), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the Institut Laue-Langevin and the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy are reported to be providing their expertise and innovation to this initiative.

Read more on the Powder Metallurgy Review website.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=356

Hutch Neilson in Germany to pave way for US participation in Wendelstein 7-X

Hutch Neilson, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory's (PPPL's) head of Advanced Projects, is saying "auf wiedersehen" to the lab for the next nine months as he travels to Greifswald, Germany, where he will be paving the way for future US researchers to participate on the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) program as the experiment begins preparing for operations next year.

David Gates, a principal research physicist and the stellarator physics leader at PPPL, will be serving as Interim Head of Advanced Projects in Neilson's absence.

Neilson's new position comes after the US Department of Energy and the European Atomic Energy Commission signed an agreement in June establishing a long-term partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and PPPL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The agreement names PPPL as the lead institute for the US collaboration on the W7-X.

Read more on the PPPL website.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=355

Monster Machines: What the future of nuclear fusion research looked like in 1962

At the onset of the atomic age, governments on both sides of the iron curtain sought to harness the power of nuclear fusion. Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey stood at the forefront of the American effort when, in 1953, they began using Stellarators — one of the earliest controlled fusion systems.

Early fusion research in the western world nearly immediately split into two halves after the end of WWII, with one subset of researchers observing super-compressed fusion materials at very short timescales, the others — including Dr. Lyman Spitzer, chair of the Department of Astronomy at Princeton University — observing these materials at a lower compression for longer times. Spitzer's invention served this purpose wonderfully. The Stellarator that Spitzer invented in 1950 is designed to hold superheated, electrically-charged plasma — a most vital and basic component of nuclear fusion research — within a designated field using electromagnetic currents.

Read more on the Gizmodo web site.