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​FOR years, scientists just down the road from Oxford have been quietly working at the forefront of a project that could change the world.

But fusion power is the best invention you have probably never heard of. That may sound like a bold claim, but Prof Steve Cowley, chief executive officer of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, is convinced that it is the only solution to a fast-approacing world energy crisis. He has been working at the science centre since 2008, but the project — the Joint European Torus (JET) — has been under way since 1982. Its aim: to create the conditions of a star on the Earth, producing clean, cheap energy for us to power our televisions, kettles and lightbulbs. Read more on the Oxford Mail .

​Culham Center for Fusion Energy, in a consortium with UK universities and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, is developing a concept for a large neutron source to test materials for future fusion power plants including the proposed prototype, DEMO, that will follow the ������app project.

If approved, the FAFNIR project would give the designers of DEMO crucial data on materials with which to build the machine. It would also serve as a bridge to the planned , which is expected to play a similar role for the first generation of commercial fusion reactors. Fusion scientists and engineers are increasingly focusing on materials research as attention turns to designs for reactors that will put power on the electricity grid. The extremely fast neutrons produced by fusion reactions in tokamaks carry an energy of 14 million electron volts (MeV) — about 70 times more than photons in hospital x-ray equipment — and pose a threat to the tokamak's structures. The neutrons cause damage within the structure of the material which leads to swelling through the creation of voids. Effects such as embrittlement and hardening of the metal caused by accumulation of helium and hydrogen gases produced by transmutation (transformation of one element into another) mean that special materials must be developed that can stay the course throughout the reactor's lifespan. As a result of transmutations caused by the neutrons, radioactive elements are produced within the tokamak components, so choosing materials that will shed their radioactivity quickly is another priority for safe decommissioning.   Read more on CCFE .

​Last week the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing to discuss the progress and future of the ������app international fusion project.

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When Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) delivered her opening statement, she affirmed her confidence in Nuclear Fusion. "Nuclear Fusion has the potential to provide the world with clean safe and practically inexhaustible source of energy. Producing reliable electric power from fusion would undoubtedly serve as one of the biggest  and most important scientific achievements on the history of mankind''.

She also confirmed her support in the ������app Project: ''That is why I am so supportive of a strong research program that can help us overcome the remaining scientific and engineering challenges for this potential to become a reality. The ������app project is the next and largest step towards this goal''.

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Listen to this statement .

​Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) found a way to compress a diamond, mimicking conditions in the cores of planets like Jupiter and Saturn.

Working alongside researchers from the Princeton University and University of California, Berkeley, LLNL scientists used the world's largest laser known as the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) to achieve what they set out to do. Actually, it was 176 lasers coming together as one to compress a diamond to 50 million times the atmospheric pressure of the Earth or 14 times of the planet's core. The air above you is equivalent to one atmosphere. The NIF has a total of 192 lasers.

Diamonds are chosen for the experiment because these are made from carbon and carbon is the fourth most abundant of the elements in the universe. They are the hardest material known to man but it took no more than 10 billionths of a second to vaporize a piece with the help of the NIF. Despite the lack of an end-product that can be further observed, the experiment is helpful because it has shown that it is possible to study the behavior of planets rich in carbon, as well as stars and exoplanets beyond the Milky Way.

"The experimental techniques developed here provide a new capability to experimentally reproduce pressure-temperature conditions deep in planetary interiors,"  LLNL physicist and lead author for the study, Ray Smith.

Read more on website. 

​There is a mantra in the fund-raising world: big donors like to support big ideas. And ideas do not come much larger than at CERN, Europe's particle-physics laboratory near Geneva in Switzerland. Now the organization — which uses its particle smasher to probe the fundamental structure of the Universe — has registered a charitable foundation to raise funds for its educational, technology-transfer and arts activities.

CERN is not the only big institution to go after donations to fund projects that fall outside the core research remit. The trend is on the rise among large European research organizations. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, is shifting its fund-raising focus from industry sponsorship to private donations. And ������app, the international nuclear-fusion experiment being built in Cadarache, France, is devising a way to deal with the offers of donations that it already receives. What nobody yet knows is the fruit these efforts will bear — whether individuals really want to donate heftily to scientific charities that are not focused on medical solutions.

For CERN, there is no better time to form a charitable foundation, says Matteo Castoldi, head of its development office. CERN's Large Hadron Collider, and the discovery of the Higgs boson, has "captured the public imagination" as much as the Apollo missions did in the 1960s, he says. The organization is already taking advantage of this, "but there is much more we could do, and that's where the foundation comes in".
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CERN director-general Rolf-Dieter Heuer stresses that such funding will not replace the institute's core budget, paid for by member states. Instead, the proceeds are aimed at activities that this funding cannot stretch to: school projects, the development of medical spin-offs such as proton therapy (the use of proton beams to kill cancer cells), and meeting the huge demand for general-interest and science-related visits. But if a donor has an explicit desire for their gift to go towards research, CERN would consider this, adds Heuer.​

Read the full article on the Nature .

​The National Fusion Research Institute of Korea has just published the latest issue of their magazine , with a long on the ������app International Business Forum that brought together 220 industrial participants in Seoul on 2-4 July.

A new video released this month by the European Domestic Agency takes us to the heart of the toroidal field coil manufacturing process. At the ASG Superconductor facility in La Spezia, Italy, a prototype double pancake—the building block of the seven-layer toroidal field coils—has now been through all of the stages of manufacturing, from winding to laser welding. The camera guides us all along the process, from station to station, with close up shots of the technologies involved.   You can view the video or visit the European Domestic Agency for more information.

​On 1 July 2014 Hiroshi Shirai took over from Shinichi Ishida as project leader of the Satellite Tokamak Programme project in Japan—JT-60SA. 

As a project conducted under the Agreement between Europe and Japan, the Satellite Tokamak Programme is upgrading the JT-60U tokamak in Naka, Japan to the advanced superconducting tokamak JT-60SA, re-employing the site buildings, auxiliaries, neutral beams, and some power supplies to support the exploitation of ������app and to promote research and development towards the next-stage device, DEMO.

Hiroshi Shirai was the group leader of the ������app Project Promotion Group in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) Tokyo office from 2007 to March 2014. In 2012 and 2013 he was the chairman of the ������app Council Preparatory Working Group (CPWG) and also took on the role of Broader Approach Steering Committee Secretariat from June 2007 to October 2011.

Trained as a theoretical plasma physicist, he has been away from Naka for more than ten years. "Some aspects of R&D activities have changed significantly during this period: JT-60 was shut down and dismantled, and then the JT-60SA project started up quickly and is now in the assembly phase. I will have to catch up with the ongoing activities here in a short time. Thanks to the assistance of the Project Team members I am accommodating myself to the new work environment. Coordinating to keep the schedule of this project is quite a demanding task, but the Project Team and I are dedicated to fulfilling our responsibilities."

Shinichi Ishida, JT-60SA project leader since 2007, recalled on his departure the problems of the early years "The project had developed significant problems in terms of cost, schedule, performance and management due to very limited human resources. But we achieved a consensus that only a clear and common mission could hold an organization together as a single team and enable it to produce results." During his time in office the project placed almost all the procurement arrangements of JT-60SA. Mr Ishida will continue to support the project from his new role at the JAEA Naka site in coordination for the management of fusion R&D, including the ������app Project and Broader Approach activities.

For more information, please see the JT-60SA .

​On Friday 11 July, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology's Subcommittee on Energy held a  to discuss the progress and future of the ������app international fusion project. The US joined the European Union (EU), India, Japan, China, Korea, and Russia to form the ������app, with each country providing resources, personnel, and expertise to move the project forward.

Ranking Member Eric Swalwell (D-CA) of the Energy Subcommittee said in his opening statement, "Given the critical importance of ������app to determining the viability of fusion as a clean energy source, and the major contributions of US researchers to advancing the science and engineering of the field to this point, I maintain strong support for this project along with the other key components of the broader US-based fusion research program. However, this does not mean we can support an unconditional blank check. The US must maintain vigorous oversight and use every means available with our international partners to contain cost and schedule, all while keeping an unwavering focus on achieving the project's incredibly important goals for our and the world's energy future."

Read more

​Two additional Complementary Diagnostic Procurement Arrangements were concluded in Russia on 10 July for the delivery of diagnostic systems to ������app. Russian Domestic Agency head Anatoly Krasilnikov signed the documents in the presence of ������app Diagnostics Division head Michael Walsh, who told the Russian staff members and supplier representatives present that "without diagnostics we won't see anything in ������app. Diagnostics are the machine's eyes and ears." 

In the scope of its commitments to ������app, Russia will manufacture 9 out of the 45 planned diagnostic systems. The latest signatures covered Edge Charge Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy and the H-Alpha diagnostic—both highly sophisticated technical devices designed for the measurement of various plasma parameters. 

--Alex Petrov, ������app Russia

​The search for star power — fusion — has received a major boost with the launch of the Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility (APFRF) at The Australian National University.

The facility includes Australia's largest fusion experiment, the newly upgraded H1, which will now be able to heat fusion experiments to temperatures hotter than the core of the sun.

The facility also includes a new machine, MagPIE, which will accelerate research into extreme materials to be used in future experiments involving even higher temperatures and radiation levels.

Senator Zed Seselja pressed the button to initiate a 30,000 degrees Celsius fusion experiment in H1 to conclude the launch. "This facility and its fine team have a reputation for world-class innovation and research excellence," Senator Seselja said.

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"������app's design hinges on experiments being carried out in experiments around the world, such as the Plasma Fusion Research Facility at ANU," said the Director General of ������app, Osamu Motojima.

Dr Adi Paterson, CEO of ANSTO, said the choice of materials for use in ������app is an active research area, to which MagPIE is already contributing, in collaboration with ANSTO (Australia's national nuclear research and development organisation), which part funded the project.

"Power plant fusion plasmas present an extreme materials challenge. This facility helps us to test whether prototype new materials can withstand the heat flux damage inflicted by a fusion plasma," Dr Paterson said.

At the same event a five-year plan for fusion research was launched laying out pathways to Australian ������app involvement and enhancements to national experimental fusion science capabilities.

The upgrade to H1 was made possible through a Commonwealth investment of $7.9 million from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (NCRIS) and associated programs.

Read more about ANU and its Plasma Fusion Research Facility .

​A major EUR 283 million contract has been signed between the European Commission and the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) that enables CCFE to continue to operate JET—for use by the EUROfusion consortium of European fusion research laboratories—until the end of 2018.

CCFE has been operating JET, Europe's largest fusion energy experiment, for fusion scientists around the continent since 2000. But the new agreement represents the largest-ever single contract to be awarded to CCFE and gives Culham and the European fusion program unprecedented security of funding for five years. This enables future experimental programs and further upgrades to JET to be planned with confidence and secures its position as a science and engineering test bed for its international successor ������app, under construction in France.

CCFE Director Steve Cowley is delighted with the agreement on the contract: "This is great news for the highly-skilled CCFE staff who work on JET and for the European fusion program. We are determined to make the most of this investment and push JET towards ever-improving performance in the years to come."

-- Nick Holloway

Source: Culham Centre for Fusion Energy ()

​Aerial views of the ������app platform, close-ups of the steel reinforcement in the Tokamak Seismic Pit, reportage-like images of pouring operations and component manufacturing... nothing illustrates the progress of the ������app Project better than photographs.

These pictures—some which have appeared in the publications ������app Newsline and ������app Mag and others that you'll be discovering for the first time—have been assembled in a 45-page photo book titled ������app, Progress in Pictures.

This new ������app communication tool will be updated at least once a year. A pdf version is available here or in the Brochures section of the ������app website's Publication Centre.

Three toroidal field conductor lengths left the Kurchatov Institute near Moscow, Russia for the ASG Superconductor plant in La Spezia, Italy on Friday 4 July. This delivery marks the halfway point in the shipment of Russian toroidal field conductor production lengths to the European winding facility.

Following this latest shipment (two 760-metre unit lengths and one 415-metre unit length), 14 unit lengths of toroidal field conductor remain to be delivered under the terms of the Procurement Arrangement signed between the ������app and ������app Russia.

​The latest issue of the European Domestic Agency's newsletter, F4ENews,  has just been released. You can consult it .

 

The ������app Business Forum opened on 2 July in Seoul attended by 220 representatives of 122 companies from the seven member states of the ������app project.

In his video address (pictured) ������app Director-General Osamu Motojima stressed the "essential part" that industry plays in the ������app Project. "And by 'industry' I mean all industry," he said, "not only the large international companies that are familiar with big projects, but also the small and medium-sized firms that drive economic growth and technological innovation in most countries today."

The ������app Business Forum continues until 4 July, with thematic sessions on the different ������app components and plant systems and presentations from industry.

 

​A number of building projects will be kicking off on the ������app site in the months to come. 

In this video, Laurent Schmieder, Site, Buildings and Power Supplies Project Manager for the European Domestic Agency, explains the different types of works that are planned, and how the construction of the Tokamak Complex and a number of surrounding buildings will get underway simultaneously, and the challenge of organizing such a busy worksite.

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Watch the video on the F4E website. 

After 60 years of fusion research, are we any closer?

This was the question asked during a 90-minute episode of the US science series "NEXT: People | Science | Tomorrow" (KPCC Southern California Public Radio) that aired on 30 June.

Guests professor of physics and astronomy in the School of Physical Sciences at the University of California, Irvine; John Parmentola, senior vice president of ' Energy and Advanced Concepts Group; and Ned R. Sauthoff, director of the Project Office, Oak Ridge National Laboratory joined host Mat Kaplan for a tour of fusion science, the ������app Project and the outlook for fusion energy.   You can watch the live stream .

​The clouds cleared up in time to welcome three distinguished members of the South Korea's National Assembly on 25 June 2014. Hae Ja Park, Sye-kyun Chung, and Young Kyo Seo were accompanied by the head of the Korean Domestic Agency for ������app, Kijung Jung. They were warmly welcomed by ������app Director-General Motojima who presented the current status of the ������app Project before they headed out onto the construction site for a visit.

At the end of the visit, Sye-kyun Chung remarked how impressive the project is and how, "in the long term, this project will be very helpful for all of humanity."

​Learning to harness fusion in a controlled way — recreating the sun on earth, as a clean source of energy — is the objective of national programs in Asia, Europe and the USA. And the race is heating up, with several quite promising options.
 
According to Professor Allan Offenberger "A sustained fusion burn is no longer an academic dream but will be realized in the near future."
 
Dr. Offenberger, on behalf of the Alberta Council of Technologies Society (ABCtech), led an assessment team on visits to the major programs around the world last year. As part of the assessment, the Society also entertained Alberta energy leaders in workshops in Calgary and Edmonton and invited international fusion researchers to report on progress at a Forum co-hosted with Alberta Energy at Alberta Innovates last fall.

Included in the Report — and found favourable — was an assessment of the merit of employing fusion energy in oil sands extraction. "Fusion ignition generates heat that would reduce the need for vast quantities of natural gas in oil sands extraction," notes Dr. Robert Fedosejevs, from the Engineering Faculty at the University of Alberta, who also participated on the assessment team.   Read more on website.