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French Science Minister "understands ºÚÁÏÉçapp timeline"
3 Jul 2023
In the course of her work, French physicist and Minister of Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau has designed and used several kinds of cryostats. None, however, can compare with the ºÚÁÏÉçapp cryostat that she saw as she peered into the Tokamak assembly pit. "The cryostats I used for my research can sit on a table and their volume is only a tiny fraction of ºÚÁÏÉçapp's. This is absolutely amazing."
French physicist and Minister of Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau (here with ºÚÁÏÉçapp Director-General Pietro Barabaschi) visits ºÚÁÏÉçapp on Thursday 29 June.
The Minister, who visited on Thursday 29 June, already knew a lot about ºÚÁÏÉçapp. But seeing it for herself made her take the full measure of the challenges the project, which she described as both "scientific and industrial," is facing. "When I see the size and complexity of the components; when I am told of their micrometric specifications, unprecedented at such a scale; when I imagine how long it took to manufacture them and how long it will take to test them ... I understand the project's timeline better."
But whereas the physicist and former university president knows from experience that the pace of research can be slow, the politician is acutely aware of the need for "milestones" to highlight a project's progress—especially as far as ºÚÁÏÉçapp is concerned.