ºÚÁÏÉçapp

In September, the US House Science Committee invited the ºÚÁÏÉçapp to hold a mini "ºÚÁÏÉçapp Business Forum" in its chambers in Washington D.C. to inform US companies about upcoming business opportunities at ºÚÁÏÉçapp. Approximately 90 businesses attended the event, which was opened by ºÚÁÏÉçapp Director-General Bernard Bigot. The next round of planned tender offers was described, and Skype links were made available for direct question and answer sessions with managers and department heads on site at ºÚÁÏÉçapp.

See this page on the ºÚÁÏÉçapp website for more on current and forthcoming tender offers. 

From 26 to 27 August, representatives of Euratom and Rosatom met in Russia to discuss collaboration in the field of controlled nuclear fusion.

Representatives of the Kurchatov Institute, Rosatom, and ºÚÁÏÉçapp Russia hosted colleagues from EUROfusion, the Karlsruhe University of Technology (KIT) and the Belgian nuclear research centre SCK•CEN to discuss the possibility of joint tokamak experiments and collaboration in the areas of diagnostics, plasma-wall interaction, fusion neutron sources, and materials.

Collaboration and cooperation between the two institutions is made possible by the "Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion" that was signed in 2001. Its stated purpose is "to "maintain and intensify cooperation in the areas of nuclear fusion energy on the basis of equality and mutual benefit in order to develop, particularly in the framework of activities connected with ºÚÁÏÉçapp project implementation, the scientific understanding and technological capability underlying a fusion power system.

At the Kurchatov Institute, visits were organized to the T-10 tokamak, as well as to T-15MD—an upgrade of the T-15 machine that is scheduled for completion next year.

In August, while on official visit to France at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India shared his vision of cooperation in the field of energy on several occasions. At the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, he took pride in his country's participation in "the only fusion project under construction in the world." ''When fusion technology becomes available [...]," he said to expatriates gathered for the occasion, "this achievement will bear the mark of your contribution."

The full speech in Hindi is available on .

We regret to announce the passing, in August, of lifelong fusion advocate Romano Toschi.

Romano Toschi was a leading figure in the development the Italian magnetic confinement fusion program and played an important role in bringing the EU at the forefront of fusion research. He was known for his strong leadership and advocacy in furthering fusion and was a prime mover in the technical and political discussions leading to the establishment of ºÚÁÏÉçapp.

Below is an article describing his many contributions. EUROfusion has also published a tribute .

_Do_Romano_Toschi_In_Memoriam_Aug2019_edit.pdf_DoX_Read the article about Romano Toschi_Dx_

"There's quite a significant crossover in the technologies between fusion and space. Both sectors have the need for components to be able to withstand high temperature, corrosion and be radiation-resistant. Equally, there is the requirement to use remote handling and advanced robotics in hazardous environments."

Heather Lewtas is the Programme Manager for Joining and Advanced Manufacturing at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE). At this year's conference in the UK, she gave a talk on "Pushing the limits of component performance in nuclear fusion and space."

"I wanted to focus on the technology people working in fusion have really mastered, and how this can be transported to the space industry. Equally, what are the problems we have that the space industry could help us solve?"

Read more on the CCFE .

What happens when hundreds of science journalists from more than 50 countries get together? A lot of questions get asked ...

Earlier this month, the 11th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ2019) took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the stated ambition of "strengthening the professional, ethical and technical skills of science journalists by increasing their knowledge of recent developments in science and improving their understanding of the forces that shape our world."

ºÚÁÏÉçapp was there.

As one of the world's most ambitious—and complex—scientific projects, ºÚÁÏÉçapp has the responsibility to nurture close and open relationships with journalists around the world who may be interested in finding out more. Journalists communicate with the audiences that need to understand fusion—how it works, what are the advantages of this form of energy, and how it could become an integral part of their lives and those of future generations.

During the weeklong event, the ºÚÁÏÉçapp stand—with a cinematic booth showing drone footage of the worksite—was a first point of contact for journalists. ºÚÁÏÉçapp Director-General Bernard Bigot was also interviewed live by Science magazine's European news editor Eric Hand. Finally, a group of 25 journalists elected to take the train to ºÚÁÏÉçapp on the last day of the conference, where they were given an in-depth tour of construction.

​ºÚÁÏÉçapp's doors have always been open to the media. Our presence at the WCSJ2019 was a way to reaffirm this commitment to transparency.

The table turns slowly as strips of composite material are wound into a perfect ring. One hundred sixty-four turns later, the 3.4-tonne component, with an internal diameter of 5 metres, is ready for bonding, compression, curing, dry machining, inspection and testing.

These are ºÚÁÏÉçapp's pre-compression rings, a set of nine composite rings that will support the toroidal field magnet superstructure in the face of huge electromagnetic forces during operation. Encircling the tips of the coil structures at top and bottom, two sets of three rings will "push back" with a centripetal force of thousands of tonnes, suppressing any coil deflection and greatly reducing cyclic fatigue stresses.

The European Domestic Agency is working with principal contractor CNIM (Toulon, France) for the procurement of nine pre-compression rings (six, plus three spares). The raw material—pultrude laminate—is being procured by the European agency from the Finnish company Exel, while the equipment for last-phase testing was built under an ºÚÁÏÉçapp contract awarded to Douce Hydro (France) in collaboration with CNIM. 

Production techniques and processes were validated during lengthy prototyping and qualification phases, and series production is underway now.

Visit the European Domestic Agency website to of the production process.  

In advance of the June G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and French President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks that resulted in the release of a five-year cooperation plan. Notably, ºÚÁÏÉçapp was one of the items on the agenda.

The plan provides a roadmap for partnership in the fields of maritime security, infrastructure development, global trade, space, cyberspace, cultural and scientific exchange, and the environment.

In Chapter IV (page 5-6), the two countries pledge to reinforce economic partnership with a particular emphasis on innovation—including ways of transitioning to energy systems that are low-carbon or carbon-neutral, affordable and stable. ºÚÁÏÉçapp makes that list, as well as the European-Japanese activities of the (advanced fusion energy research taking place in Japan).

Download the roadmap in  or 

Superconductivity is a miracle of physics: when cooled down to temperatures close to absolute zero, certain alloys, or compounds, cease to oppose resistance to the passage of electricity. In electromagnets made of superconducting coils like ºÚÁÏÉçapp's, electrical consumption drops to zero and, as an added advantage, no heat is generated inside the magnets.

Magnet cooling, however, requires a vast quantity of energy. Cooling fluids must be circulated through the entire length of the superconducting coils which, at ºÚÁÏÉçapp, means maintaining a forced flow of 25 tonnes of liquid helium at 4 K (minus 269 °C) throughout approximately 180 kilometres (and 10,000 tonnes) of conductor.

For many years, research worldwide has struggled to develop materials that would transition to the superconducting state at less frigid temperatures—so-called "high-temperature" superconductors.

Used in electromagnets, these "high-temperature" superconductors would allow the production of more powerful magnetic fields, passing the present limitation of low-temperature conductors (At its maximum in the centre of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp central solenoid, the magnetic field has an intensity of 13 Tesla.)

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida, recently announced an important breakthrough in the quest for "high-temperature" superconductors: the manufacturing and testing of a half-pint "little big coil" that operated inside the bore of large outer copper coil in a background field of approximately 30 T, itself generating an additional 14.4 T, thus generating a combined record magnetic field of 45.5 Tesla in its (small) bore. This experiment demonstrated the capability of high temperature superconductors to operate in very high magnetic fields under large stresses. This could open the way to a new generation of magnets for biomedical research and fusion reactors.

 More information on the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and in this month's issue of .

Every two years, the Festival de Théorie aims to promote interactions between PhD students, postdocs and young scientists in fusion plasma physics and related fields including astrophysics, fluid mechanics and geophysics.

Many of the principles governing the turbulence and magneto-hydrodynamic phenomena observed in fusion plasmas are similar to those found in naturally occurring astrophysical plasmas in the Sun. Fluid mechanics and planetary atmospheric physics also share common threads, reporting observations that often reflect the experimental measurements taken in tokamaks. This is where the Festival de Théorie comes in, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and providing an invaluable forum for tackling some of the key issues posed by ºÚÁÏÉçapp.

The theme selected this year is: Phase Dynamics. The 2019 program is organized around four weeks of study and research in collaboration with a core group of prominent scientists. Participants begin with two weeks of seminars and lectures, followed by research projects in weeks 3 and 4 on topics spanning plasma physics, fluid dynamics, astrophysics, and applied mathematics.

The 10th edition of the Festival de Théorie will take place in Aix-en-Provence, France, from 1 to 26 July 2019. .

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the launch of INFUSE, a program created to encourage partnerships in fusion research between industry and DOE national laboratories.

The Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) will select a number of projects for awards between $50,000 and $200,000 each, with a 20 percent project cost share for industry partners. Of particular focus will be "enabling technologies" that could contribute to accelerating the development of fusion energy such as new and improved superconducting magnets, materials science, diagnostics, modelling and simulation, and experimental capabilities.

DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will manage the new program with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). ORNL's Dennis Youchison, a fusion engineer with extensive experience in plasma-facing components, will serve as director, and PPPL's Ahmed Diallo, a physicist with expertise in laser diagnostics, will serve as deputy director.

"I am excited about the potential of INFUSE and believe this step will instill a new vitality to the entire fusion community," says Youchison in the DOE press release. "With growing interest in developing cost-effective sources of fusion energy, INFUSE will help focus current research. Multiple private companies in the United States are pursuing fusion energy systems, and we want to contribute scientific solutions that help make fusion a reality."

The first call for proposals has been issued ().

See the 4 June  and the INFUSE .

Fusion is the star of a recent Babbage podcast from The Economist, which aired on 5 June 2019. In "Fusing the future—a power struggle," science correspondent Alok Jha investigates the technology "that could solve all of the world's energy problems in a stroke."

Moving from the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Project—the "world's make or break fusion experiment"—to private startups, he investigates how close we are to the long-promised dream of nuclear fusion. Featuring interviews with Bernard Bigot, Director-General of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp; Stephen Dean, Fusion Power Associates (US); Melanie Windridge, plasma physicist and author; Nicholas Hawker, CEO of First Light Fusion (UK); and David King, Executive Vice Chairman of Tokamak Energy (UK).

Listen (runtime: 20 minutes).

High above the concrete fortress that will house the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Tokamak, a steel lattice of pillars and beams will soon rise to complete the structure—both providing a roof (once covered over with cladding) and providing sheltered manoeuvring room for the heavy assembly cranes that will be travelling back and forth from the Assembly Hall carrying components.

Twenty steel pillars (ten on either side) will support the roof structure as well as resist the tremendous forces exerted by the movement of the bridge cranes.

The lower segments of the pillars (see photo) will be directly anchored in the concrete of the Tokamak Building, either on concrete columns or on weight-bearing "brackets" called corbels. The rest of the roof structure will be assembled in five modules on the ground and lifted into place by crane.

The roof of the Tokamak Building will weigh approximately 2,000 tonnes.

Read the full story on the Fusion for Energy .

Researchers from the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, PSFC, and the University of Texas at Austin have had promising results in terms of plasma stability in experiments with "negative triangularity" on the DIII-D tokamak; that is, with reversing the conventional shape of the plasma in the tokamak chamber.

In results published recently in Physical Review Letters and Physics of Plasmas, researchers Alessandro Marinoni (MIT) and Max Austin (UT Austin) discovered evidence that reversing the conventional shape of the plasma in the tokamak chamber can create a more stable environment for fusion to occur, even under high pressure.

Marinoni and colleagues are planning future experiments to further demonstrate the potential of this approach in an even more fusion-power relevant magnetic topology, based on a "diverted" tokamak concept.

Read more on the subject on the .

At ºÚÁÏÉçapp's Neutral Beam Test Facility, one testbed has been launched and another is in the procurement/assembly phase.

SPIDER—the ºÚÁÏÉçapp-scale negative ion source—turned on last year. Experiments on MITICA—a full-size prototype of ºÚÁÏÉçapp's 1 MV heating neutral beam injectors—are scheduled beginning 2022. Procurement is underway in Europe on the beam source and at Consorzio RFX in Padua, Italy, work is underway to install auxiliary components and systems.

In May, the first part of the MITICA beam source vacuum vessel was installed (photo). This stainless steel component was procured by the European Domestic Agency, Fusion for Energy, as a voluntary contribution to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp neutral beam development program.

See more about the manufacturing of the vessel .

See more about the Neutral Beam Test Facility at Consorzio RFX here.

Physics of Plasmas (American Institute of Physics) has published a paper on research carried out under a collaboration between the Eindhoven Technical University (TU/e, Netherlands) and the ºÚÁÏÉçapp.

"" (D. C. van Vugt, G. T. A. Huijsmans, M. Hoelzl, A. Loarte, et al) describes the role of edge-localized modes (ELMs) in exhausting tungsten impurities from the core plasma of tokamaks to ensure that their concentration remains low.

The collaboration modelled tungsten impurity behaviour and power fluxes to plasma-facing components during controlled ELMs in ºÚÁÏÉçapp with advanced modelling by the JOREK code, which required specific upgrades to the code to include the necessary plasma-wall interaction and impurity transport processes.

The authors write: "This publication shows that the role of ELMs in cleaning up the plasma from tungsten eroded at the divertor in ºÚÁÏÉçapp can be opposite to that in present experiments, particularly when we approach the conditions required for high fusion energy production gain. This implies that the use of the ELM control coils, included in the ºÚÁÏÉçapp baseline design to modify ELM behaviour and eventually suppress ELMs, will be required not only for the control of power fluxes to the divertor but also to exhaust the eroded tungsten from the confined plasma to keep it clean."

Read the complete article on the TU/e website .

In his time at DIFFER (the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research) and the Swiss Plasma Center, fusion researcher Wouter Vijvers developed a novel imaging diagnostic known as MANTIS (Multispectral Advanced Narrowband Tokamak Imaging System).

Today, as CEO of the fusion spin-off Chromodynamics, he is hoping to use his real-time imaging technique in applications such as medical diagnosis and industrial quality and process control.

Imagine if a surgeon removing a malignant tumour from a patient could precisely see the contours of the tumour while operating. "Healthy tissues and malignant tissues have different chemical profiles, and this difference is what multispectral imaging will be able to capture and show," he explains. "Combine that with real-time capabilities, and a surgeon could see the image of the malignant tissue while operating to ensure complete removal."

In the meantime, Vijvers is still using his technology to study the plasma edge. In a Cooperation Agreement signed in February with the ºÚÁÏÉçapp, Chromodynamics is joining Dutch research institutes TNO and DIFFER as well as Active Space Technologies (Europe) to develop a diagnostic tool capable of measuring the impurity content of the plasma.

See the full article on the .

Lithium, the light silvery metal used in everything from pharmaceutical applications to the batteries that power your smartphone or electric car, could also help harness fusion energy on Earth. Lithium can maintain the heat and protect the tokamak vessel walls, and it will be used to produce tritium, the hydrogen isotope that will combine with deuterium to fuel fusion.

At the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in the US, researchers have completed a three-year upgrade of the Lithium Tokamak Experiment, now called the Lithium Tokamak Experiment-Beta. This unique device will be able to test the ability of lithium to maintain the heat and protect the walls of the tokamak.

Photo: Interior view of the Lithium Tokamak Experiment prior to the upgrade.

See plans for the machine on the .

Vigyan Samagam, the first-ever mega-science exhibition on show in India, starts its ten-month multi-venue tour at the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai on 8 May. The aim is to bring mega-science closer to society and raise awareness and enthusiasm—especially among the younger generations, inspiring them to consider science and research as formidable career options.

The exhibition will allow visitors to get first-hand impressions of the big science projects that are redefining the boundaries of human knowledge for the benefit of all, and in which India is participating. ºÚÁÏÉçapp is one of the seven projects featured (with CERN, the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO), the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory).

After staying in Mumbai for the first two months, the exhibition will then travel to Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi.

For more information on the event, please click .