ºÚÁÏÉçapp

On Friday, 11 February 2022—International Day of Women and Girls in Science— and the  will be hosting a webinar on the role of Women in Big Science. The session will bring together representatives from big science organizations, industry and policy in Europe to discuss the potential of women in big science and some of the long-lasting challenges they face.

The idea of an award promoting best practice involving women in big science will also be discussed.

Registration is open .

For 15 years ºÚÁÏÉçapp has been opening its doors to visitors, either in small groups or during regular Open Doors Days. Approximately 160,000 visitors from all horizons—school children, students, members of the public, companies, politicians—have passed through the ºÚÁÏÉçapp gates since 2007, returning home with a better idea of the scale and importance of ºÚÁÏÉçapp and of the passion that animates the men and women who work here.

Because in-person Open Door Days have been impossible for the past two years, the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Communication team innovated in 2021, creating a virtual experience on line for "visitors" from around the world.

Demonstrations, livestreams from the worksite, videos, presentations, virtual reality ... there is something for everyone.

The three-hour event is now available in replay. Follow to view it.

The 11th ºÚÁÏÉçapp International School will be held from 25 to 29 July 2022, hosted in person by the U.S. Burning Plasma Organization, University of California at San Diego, and General Atomics.

The subject of this year's school is "ºÚÁÏÉçapp Plasma Scenarios and Control." As the start of ºÚÁÏÉçapp operation approaches, it is timely to address this challenging multidisciplinary topic: the development of integrated operating scenarios and required plasma control to facilitate the ºÚÁÏÉçapp goals, particularly for plasmas self-heated by fusion-born alpha particles.

The ºÚÁÏÉçapp International School is organized regularly with the goal of giving young scientists and engineers a taste of the stimulating, multi-disciplinary and challenging field that is nuclear fusion.

For all information on the 2022 edition, see .

Carlos Alejaldre, who was an ºÚÁÏÉçapp Deputy-Director-General from 2006 to 2015 and who is the current Director-General of CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas), the Spanish public research agency focused on energy and the environment, has been appointed as the new Chair of the Fusion for Energy (F4E) Governing Board.

A plasma physicist by training, Carlos has held several important positions in fusion research. Prior to joining ºÚÁÏÉçapp, he headed CIEMAT's national fusion laboratory (1992-2004) and was for two years (2004-2006) the director general of technological policy at the Spanish ministry of Education and Science. At ºÚÁÏÉçapp, he was head of the Safety and Security Department.

Alejaldre will act as Chair of the F4E Governing Board, the body that supervises the activities of the European Joint Undertaking for ºÚÁÏÉçapp and the development of fusion energy, for an initial period of two years starting on 1 January 2022. 

See the for more information. 

In a rare and memorable moment, the Joint European Torus (JET) team today received His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for a tour and first-hand discussion of fusion energy. Long known as an advocate of environmental awareness and sustainable energy, Prince Charles was, according to UKAEA CEO Ian Chapman, "keen to understand more about how fusion can be a critical piece of the future global energy puzzle." Together with European and UK officials, ºÚÁÏÉçapp Chief Scientist Tim Luce was present to meet the Prince of Wales and explain the JET-ºÚÁÏÉçapp connection.

Currently the world's most powerful tokamak, JET is a direct precursor to ºÚÁÏÉçapp, and recently celebrated the completion of its 100,000th pulse. New scientific results from the most recent JET deuterium-tritium campaign will be released in February.

During his visit, the Prince of Wales was introduced to ºÚÁÏÉçapp by Tim Luce, head of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Science & Operations Domain (left).

See the official UK government press release .

On 17 December 2021, the Fusion Energy Forum of Japan (FEFJ) held its annual Symposium on the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Project and Broader Approach* activities. Featuring speakers from government, business, academia, and science, the 4.5-hour event covered fusion energy policy in Japan, progress in domestic and international fusion projects (including ºÚÁÏÉçapp and the Broader Approach), frontiers in research, and industrial applications.

See all speakers and presentations at . 

Watch the event on YouTube or with a .  

* The Broader Approach activities, financed by Europe and Japan, aim to accelerate the realization of fusion energy. Find out more .

Since its inauguration in 1983 in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the European tokamak JET has cemented its reputation as "one of the most important machines in the history of fusion energy research," according to Ian Chapman, CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority. On 18 January 2022, the machine ran its 100,000th plasma pulse.

JET, for Joint European Torus, is the focal point of the European fusion research program, designed to study fusion in conditions approaching those needed for a power plant. It is the only experiment that can operate with the deuterium-tritium fuel mix that will be used for commercial fusion power (and in ºÚÁÏÉçapp).

In 1997 JET successfully produced a world record 22.5 megajoules of fusion energy and 16 megawatts of fusion power during the first dedicated deuterium-tritium experiments, proving large amounts of power can be produced from fusion.

In 2011 JET was equipped with a new ºÚÁÏÉçapp-like inner wall made of beryllium and tungsten metals, enabling scientists to develop plasma scenarios that resemble as closely as possible those planned for ºÚÁÏÉçapp, investigate the interaction of the plasma with wall materials, and study the accumulation of tungsten from the wall in the plasma core.

In 2021, JET carried out a second full-power run of experiments using deuterium and tritium. Stay tuned: the results from these experiments will be announced in early February 2022.

The JET facilities located at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy () in Abingdon, Oxfordshire UK, are collectively used by all European fusion laboratories under the . ºÚÁÏÉçapp 350 scientists from EU countries (plus Switzerland, the UK and Ukraine), and more from around the globe, participate in JET experiments each year. CCFE is responsible for operating the facility for fusion researchers and for maintaining and upgrading it. This work is carried out under a contract between the European Commission and the UK Atomic Energy Authority (CCFE's operator). 

The ºÚÁÏÉçapp community congratulates the JET team on its 100,000th pulse!

Thesis supervisors are invited to nominate a student for the 2021 FuseNet Master Thesis Prize by 10 February 2022.

FuseNet will award the prizes to students who write outstanding Master's theses that were (at least partially) carried out and completed across Europe. The prizes serve to highlight the important research that is carried out by dedicated and talented fusion students.

As a prize, the winners will be invited to present their work as a poster at the 48th European Physical Society Conference of Plasma Physics held in Maastricht, the Netherlands, from 27 June to 1 July 2022. Travel, subsistence, and fees will all be covered by FuseNet.

Learn more about the prize on the FuseNet .

Recruitment opens TODAY for the 2022 Monaco-ºÚÁÏÉçapp Postdoctoral Fellowship campaign. The ºÚÁÏÉçapp is looking for five postdoctoral candidates in the fields of fusion science or engineering for two-year positions based in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France (ºÚÁÏÉçapp Headquarters).

If your PhD was awarded after 1 January 2019—or you are about to obtain one—and you are interested in participating in one of the greatest scientific and technical challenges of the 21st century, this may be an opportunity for you.

The positions are funded by the Principality of Monaco, which signed a Partnership Arrangement with the ºÚÁÏÉçapp in 2008 and renewed its sponsorship in 2018 for ten years. Candidates must have an excellent track record of creativity and accomplishment in their chosen fields.

The campaign closes on 1 March 2022. For more information see the Monaco-ºÚÁÏÉçapp Fellowships page. To apply, see the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Jobs page.

The size and weight of major ºÚÁÏÉçapp components, the careful handling, tiny assembly tolerances, the breadth of manufacturers, the tight schedule, complex interfaces ... all of these elements combine to make the assembly of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp machine an engineering and logistics challenge of enormous proportions.

In this new ºÚÁÏÉçapp Talks video, two members of the Construction Domain—Jens Reich (Ex-Vessel Delivery & Assembly Division Head) and Brian Macklin (Group Leader for Ex-Vessel Assembly)—describe how teams have planned for the assembly of the 23,000-tonne ºÚÁÏÉçapp machine, how the sequences are unfolding, what the main challenges are, and what lessons have been learned since the first machine assembly activity was launched in 2018.

Watch the fifth episode of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Talks .

See the full ºÚÁÏÉçapp Talks playlist on YouTube .

The ºÚÁÏÉçapp has launched the procurement for the Hot Cell Facility Project Integrator. 

The ºÚÁÏÉçapp Hot Cell Facility is the maintenance and refurbishment facility supporting tokamak operation. The role of the Project Integrator will be to prepare and promote the collaboration to realize the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Hot Facility, working with both the clients and first-tier contractors through all project phases.

For companies interested in learning more about the Hot Cell Facility Project Integrator contract, a virtual procurement Information Day will be organized on 24 January 2022. 

Register  by 20 January.

The deadline for this Call for Nomination is 28 January 2022. 

The CERN Courier just released its 2022 In Focus report on vacuum science, technology and innovation. In it, there is a four-page report on vacuum science at ºÚÁÏÉçapp featuring Vacuum Section Leader Robert Pearce.

"Design, construction, commissioning, operation and upgrade: the life-cycle of large-scale scientific vacuum systems informs the exclusive coverage in this CERN Courier In Focus report," writes the editor. "Think technology innovation and implementation on an ambitious canvas like ºÚÁÏÉçapp's sprawling vacuum ecosystem, a core building block in the international research effort to transform nuclear fusion into an at-scale energy proposition (pp. 20-22)."

[...]"When it becomes operational later this decade, the ºÚÁÏÉçapp fusion research project will be dependent on one of the most complex vacuum systems ever built. Joe McEntee checks out progress with ºÚÁÏÉçapp vacuum section leader Robert Pearce, while highlighting the downstream commercial opportunities already spinning out from the core construction programme."

You can read the report .

Watch a recent ºÚÁÏÉçapp TALK on vacuum here.

Applications are open through 31 January 2022 for the 2022-2024 program; students from all over the world are encouraged to apply.

The Erasmus Mundus European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics (FUSION-EP) aims to provide a high-level multinational research-oriented education in fusion-related engineering or physics in close relation to the research activities of the partners (7 universities and 24 partners (including the ºÚÁÏÉçapp) in 12 countries.

This master degree is a unique opportunity for the selected students to study in two different European countries and to discover and work at major fusion research facilities during the two years' programme.

The very international curriculum, the high quality and completeness of the curriculum and the high selectivity of FUSION-EP allowed it to be selected as an EMJMD by the Executive Agency for Culture, Education and Audiovisual. The EACEA provides a number of full scholarships for the best-ranked applicants.

Apply now for a start in September 2022.

For more information or to apply, see the . 

In the latest episode of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Talks series, join ºÚÁÏÉçapp specialist Robert Pearce for a voyage into the universe of vacuum. Is vacuum absolutely nothing ... or is it something more than you could imagine? Does a "perfect vacuum" exist? How can vacuum be defined and measured, and how did scientists come to understand it? What is the importance of vacuum for ºÚÁÏÉçapp?

As head of the Vacuum Delivery & Installation Section at ºÚÁÏÉçapp, Pearce is responsible for the systems that will create the necessary vacuum conditions not only in the plasma chamber and the cryostat, but also in heating, diagnostic and auxiliary systems.

Watch the fourth episode of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Talks .

See the full ºÚÁÏÉçapp Talks playlist .

A new episode of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's podcast puts the focus on fusion.

"Building a sun on Earth to produce unlimited, carbon-free energy may sound like science fiction, but it's not. It's a nuclear process called fusion, where two atoms join together and create an abundance of energy. Recreating the power of a star is no easy feat, but scientists across the globe are hard at work to make it a reality. From materials, to confining sun-hot plasmas, to fuel, there are a lot of scientific challenges to overcome to build a fusion reactor. In this episode, we talked to several Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists about how they are tackling these problems and why the future of fusion looks brighter than ever right now."

Listen to "Fusion: Energy at the Extreme" (30').

On Wednesday, 8 December 2021, Al Jazeera's asked: Could fusion energy be the clean energy answer to the climate crisis?

Recent advances have led to a rise in interest and funding from investors who want to see the first energy-creating fusion machine and eventually the first fusion power plant to generate power that is safe and free of carbon emissions. How far are we away from re-creating the energy source of the Sun?

Host Josh Rushing speaks with Tim Luce, chief scientist at the ºÚÁÏÉçapp; Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association; and Tammy Ma, from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility.

Watch a replay of the 25-minute show .

A new series of webinars on burning plasma physics has been announced by the U.S. Burning Plasma Organization (USBPO). The webinars will focus on the implications for burning plasma physics of different types of fusion devices including the tokamak, the stellarator, high-field devices and new concepts. The webinar series is organized in the context of long-range fusion energy planning activities that have been launched in the United States, but the updates on recent developments can interest the worldwide community. Seven webinars are planned (dates subject to confirmation).

See more about the new webinar series .

See the sign up link at the end of .

USBPO works to advance the scientific understanding of burning plasmas and coordinates relevant fusion research in the United States with broad community participation. See . 

The 2021 Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) will take place exclusively on line from 12 to 16 December 2021. It will be co-located on the same virtual platform as the IEEE Pulsed Power Conference (PPE), offering participants enhanced opportunities for social and technical interaction.

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). The Symposium is dedicated to the scientific, technological and engineering issues of fusion energy research and is a mixture of oral presentations and poster sessions. 

Head of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Engineering Domain Alain Bécoulet will be  presenting the status of ºÚÁÏÉçapp assembly in the Opening Plenary. Other ºÚÁÏÉçapp presenters will discuss tokamak assembly, diagnostic engineering and integration, and the ºÚÁÏÉçapp in-vessel coils.

There is still time to sign up at .

ºÚÁÏÉçapp was represented earlier this month at the world's largest exhibition dedicated to the civil nuclear sector—the World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), which was organized in Paris and virtually from 30 November to 2 December 2021.

WNE brings together the global civil nuclear community once every two years for networking and discussions of the major challenges facing the industry and society. This year's edition, which attracted more than 600 exhibitors from 83 countries and approximately 18,000 participants, was organized around the theme "The nuclear industry, a key partner for a low-carbon society in a responsible future."  

Organizers highlighted the role that the global nuclear sector can play as a "steerable, non-intermittent, and competitive" source of electricity in the fight against climate change and the effort to move toward a sustainable low-carbon-emissions future. "R&D in new technologies and concepts are stimulating the sector as well as business and job prospects and competitiveness within the entire value chain," stressed WNE President Sylvie Bermann. 

In her address on the opening day, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson placed ºÚÁÏÉçapp squarely in the category of "disruptive innovations. "The benefit for international scientific collaboration and the potential spill-over effect for technological innovation is hugely significant."

At the ºÚÁÏÉçapp stand, in space shared with the European Commission and the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy, there was a steady stream of interested visitors over three days. The most common question from nuclear industry representatives was: "How can we get involved in fusion?"

(Photo: Philippe Eranian)

The ºÚÁÏÉçapp has kicked off its 2022 internship program with the publication of 68 offers on the ºÚÁÏÉçapp website (visit Jobs/Internships here: /jobs/internships).

These opportunities are geared toward undergraduate and postgraduate students, with a broad array of topics across scientific, technical and support departments. Science, technology, systems engineering, business operations, and construction and installation are all represented in this year's batch of internship opportunities.

Positions are offered for up to six months; some categories are extendable to one year. Apply before 16 February 2022 (or 16 January 2022 for internships beginning in Q1 2022) through the online. (Please note that internship opportunities are limited to nationals from countries participating in the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Project, i.e., China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russian Federation and the United States.)