Fifty years after the first International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interactions in Magnetic Confinement Devices in 1974, the 26th edition of this much-lauded conference series took place just a short drive from ITER. A major component of the proposed new ITER baseline is the switch from beryllium to tungsten material for the blanket first wall armour. This modification has important benefits and potential drawbacks for ITER operation. It eliminates the expected high plasma-induced erosion of beryllium (thus extending armour lifetime in some areas of the main wall) and the associated in-vessel tritium retention due to co-deposition with eroded material. It dispenses with the need for complex assembly and disassembly of components arising from the toxicity of beryllium. And it replaces a metal with relatively low melting point by one with the highest melting point in the periodic table, increasing operational margins before surface damage due to intense plasma transient impact occurs. On the downside, even though erosion rates due to plasma impact on tungsten are far lower than for beryllium, ITER burning plasmas are orders of magnitude less tolerant to any tungsten impurities which do make their way into the hot core. Plasma start-up on tungsten surfaces can also be an issue, requiring that an additional tool (boronization) be put in place to condition the plasma-facing surfaces. Plasma boundary physics, plasma material interactions and wall conditioning are thus all key aspects of ITER re-baselining. How fitting then that the 26th edition of the biennial International Conference on Plasma-Surface Interactions in Magnetic Confinement Devices (PSI-26) should be hosted this year in Marseille, a mere 75 km from ITER Organization headquarters. What's more, the conference was held in exactly the same week in which the ITER Council Science and Technology Advisory Committee convened for its 30th meeting to examine progress in the articulation of the Updated Baseline since the first presentations made at STAC-29 in September 2022. The PSI Conference, first held in 1974 at the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States, began as a relatively small gathering of mostly plasma-material interaction specialists. It expanded rapidly through the 1980s to encompass a much larger scope, enabling dialogue between plasma physicists and surface scientists. It has convened throughout the transformation from research on small scale magnetic confinement devices (ironically often using metallic plasma-facing components) through the 'carbon era' of much larger experiments with graphite armour including the first deployments of deuterium-tritium fuel in the JET and TFTR tokamaks in the 1990s. Today, it is the preeminent plasma-surface interaction conference in the fusion calendar. Last held in France in 1996, the conference returned from 12 to 17 May to the country hosting ITER for its 26th edition. PSI-26 was organized by the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in collaboration with Aix-Marseille University, and superbly managed by Yannick Marandet, Director of the University's Institute for Fusion Sciences and Instrumentation in Nuclear Environments (ISFIN), and his excellent team of local organizers led by Marc Missirlian. In common with the majority of international gatherings, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the 2020 and 2022 PSI conferences onto a virtual platform, with the last in-person event held at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in June 2018. It was thus especially rewarding to be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this conference series face-to-face once again. It took place at the magnificent Palais du Pharo, whose construction on the Pharo promontory began in 1858 at the request of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte and was intended as an imperial residence for Empress Eugénie, though the latter never actually lived there and gifted the palace to the city of Marseille in 1884. During coffee and lunch breaks throughout the conference, participants enjoyed splendid views over the Vieux Port of Marseille from the palace terraces outside the main amphitheatre. Just the week before, the famous French three-masted, steel-hull barque 'Le Belem' had passed right beneath the Pharo, after a 12-day voyage from Athens carrying the Olympic Flame to French soil.    In his remarks as one of the speakers in the conference opening session, ITER Organization Director-General Pietro Barabaschi emphasized the importance of the material and plasma-material interaction both for ITER and for the development of future fusion reactors, no matter what technique is deployed to achieve the fusion reactions. This was followed by an introductory presentation delivered by the author (a regular PSI Conference participant since a first appearance as a graduate student at the 1988 edition (PSI-8) held in Juelich, Germany) describing the key plasma-wall interaction challenges faced by the ITER re-baseline. Then it was straight into a busy week of presentations and poster sessions for the 438 attendees from 25 countries. As usual, all benefitted from what is a rare tradition observed by the PSI conference series of avoiding parallel sessions so that anyone who wishes can listen to all oral presentations and attend all the poster sessions. This is especially important in an area of fusion research in which the often disparate disciplines of plasma physics and material science must meet. Several papers, many linked directly to the ITER re-baseline, were presented by members of the ITER Science Division. Given the long timescales for fusion research and the increasing demand for highly qualified fusion scientists that the field must satisfy in coming years, it was particularly gratifying to witness the high proportion of young participants at the meeting, with graduate students making up 26% of the delegates. Gender diversity also featured strongly: 20% of conference participants were women and Women in Fusion organized a well-attended networking luncheon. A special session also celebrated 50 years of PSI conferences, with several previous conference hosts remembering the history and development of the plasma-surface interaction field in a series of dedicated presentations. Rendez-vous then in May 2026 in the eastern Bavarian city of Regensburg for the next installment of this venerable and much-loved conference series.

The global fusion landscape is undergoing a profound mutation. In the ambition of harnessing 'the energy of the Sun and stars,' public projects, government or university-funded, are not alone anymore. Over the past few years, scores of small, nimble, daring private ventures, have managed to gather considerable financial support to explore new, sometimes exotic avenues to bring fusion energy to the grid. Pursuing the same goal and encountering some of the same challenges, public ventures like ITER and private startups have a lot to share. In the long tradition of fusion openness and generous collaborations, establishing public-private synergies appears today not only as desirable, but as indispensable. This is precisely what the 'Inaugural Private Sector Workshop,' which opened at ITER Headquarters on Monday 27 May, intends to establish. For three days, fusion startups, managers and scientists, suppliers, public research institutes, Domestic Agencies and ITER Organization representatives will meet, compare notes, and explore possible paths to collaboration. 'Our project is useful to all of you,' said ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi in his opening address. The moment could be historic—the birth of a truly global fusion community, without distinction of size or status and united in a common ambition.  We'll have more in next week's edition of Newsline. 

The world met at VivaTech, Europe's biggest startup and tech event, and ITER was part of it! With more than 165,000 attendees, 400 speakers and 13,500 startups, Vivatech shattered records and brought together prestigious personalities such as Elon Musk, John Kerry, the Williams sisters and many more. While artificial intelligence was the hot topic, energy was also discussed on stage and nuclear fusion was part of the discussion. ITER scientist Richard Pitts captivated the VivaTech crowd with a debate with Hartmut Ruhl from Marvel Fusion about the current status of fusion energy the technical challenges remaining on the road to commercialization. Among the many prestigious visitors, Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, paid a visit to the ITER booth and confirmed her support and interest in this 'fascinating project that will be one the options to delivering a carbon-free energy source for the generations to come.' Minister Retailleau toured the ITER site in July 2023. Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, paid a visit to the ITER booth and confirmed her support and interest for the project.

Registration is open for the 13th ITER International School (IIS), which will take place from 9 to 13 December 2024 in Nagoya, Japan, hosted by National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS). The aim is to prepare young scientists and engineers for working in the field of nuclear fusion and in research applications associated with the ITER Project. The adoption of a "school" format was a result of the need to prepare future scientists and engineers on a range of different subjects and to provide them with a wide overview of the interdisciplinary skills required by ITER. The subject of the 2024 school is "Magnetic Fusion Diagnostics and Data Science," with a scientific program coordinated by Profs. M. Yokoyama and K. Tanaka (National Institute for Fusion Science) and Drs. M. Kocan and S. McIntosh (ITER Organization). Diagnostics are key to the achievement of ITER fusion power demonstration goals, and they require the application of a wide range of techniques. However, diagnostics are not enough to ensure ITER's success; only through the advanced analysis of the data they provide will it be possible to guide the experiments towards their fusion power goals. More information is available here. The deadline for pre-registration and abstract submission is 1 September 2024. Register here.