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Today, as we commemorate the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the EUROfusion consortium stands in solidarity with our Ukrainian member and research colleagues.

EUROfusion remains committed to supporting Ukraine's researchers and to helping to rebuild their facilities. The ongoing war on Ukraine underscores the importance of pursuing sustainable energy and energy independence, promoting human development, and advancing peace. It is imperative that we remain steadfast in our joint efforts to create a better future.

With the permission of our member KIPT (the National Science Center Kharkov Institute for Physics and Technology), we share some images of the tremendous devastation and loss caused by Russian missile and artillery strikes on the KIPT facilities in Kharkiv. Our thoughts are with our colleagues at KIPT and at the other fusion partners linked to KIPT as associated entities, as we express our solidarity and support for our colleagues and the people around them.

Impact

Home to many knowledge institutes, Kharkiv lies in the northeast of the country and is Ukraine's second-largest city. It lies about 25 kilometers from the border with Russia and was hit heavily in the early phase of the invasion, with over 100 strikes hitting the campus and surrounding residential area between February and May of 2022. Science magazine covered Kharkiv's response to the attacks in this article in December 2022.

In addition to damage to buildings and research facilities, the attacks also caused the loss of KIPT PhD student Mykola Zamanov as his house in the suburbs was hit by a Russian missile.

Images courtesy of Prof Igor Garkusha, KIPT. Used with permission.

During the invasion, many KIPT colleagues have continued to work from home and have conducted repairs on the institute's damaged buildings and facilities. They for instance placed the institute's Neutron Source in long-stop mode and found ways to keep KIPT's fusion experiments such as its stellarator and linear plasma accelerators operational.

Other KIPT colleagues had to evacuate to locations in western Ukraine and beyond. Thirty countries worldwide sheltered KIPT staff, predominantly in Europe such as at our Polish member IPPLM, CIEMAT in Spain, Uppsala University in Sweden, IPP Garching in Germany and other laboratories.

Images courtesy of Prof Igor Garkusha, KIPT. Used with permission.

Support

EUROfusion has made funding available to support such temporary positions at Ukrainian labs as well as for Ukrainian scientists hosted at EUROfusion members. In addition we decided to provide funding to support the fusion research at KIPT and its associated entities in Ukraine. As part of a European Commission response, EUROfusion has also stopped ongoing collaboration projects with Russian research institutes.

"It is hugely important for us to hear EUROfusion words of solidarity and feel the actions of support in this time", says KIPT fusion researcher Sergii Pugach.

Head of the fusion research at KIPT Professor Igor Garkusha agrees: "It is very important for us to feel the 'shoulder of friend'. It helps us overcome the hardships of the war and give hope for the rapid restoration of our research infrastructure after the war."

Images courtesy of Prof Igor Garkusha, KIPT. Used with permission.

Source: EUROfusion

Another target has been achieved only recently by the W7-X researchers, namely they managed to acquire an energy turnover of 1.3 gigajoules in the device, which is 17 times higher than before the conversion. As it is pointed out by Prof. Dr. Thomas Klinger, head of the Stellarator Transport and Dynamics Division at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, higher energy values are more attainable than in the past. At the same time it is important not to inflict any damage to the device itself.

The equipment playing crucial role at Wendelstein 7-X are heat-resistant divertor baffle plates enabling to dissipate largest heat flows. Among the plasma heating components it was the electron microwave heating system which was particularly important. The energy turnover of 1.3 gigajoule was achieved with an average heating power of 2.7 megawatts and the discharge itself lasted 480 seconds. In the past the heating power was much lower and the duration constituted 100 seconds.

In the future, the researchers plan to keep plasma stable for an hour with increasing the energy turnover to 18 gigajoules.

For more information about the record values achieved please visit: www.ipp.mpg.de

Photo: IPP, J. Hosan. View into the plasma vessel of Wendelstein 7-X

Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger are the winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics. It was awarded “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science”.

Each of the scientists has conducted groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated. The obtained results have cleared the way for new technology based upon quantum information.

© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The Nobel Prize is worth 10 million Swedish kronor. It will be shared equally between the laureates.

• Alain Aspect, born 1947 in Agen, France. PhD 1983 from Paris-Sud University, Orsay, France. Professor at Université Paris-Saclay and École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France.
• John F. Clauser, born 1942 in Pasadena, CA, USA. PhD 1969 from Columbia University, New York, USA. Research Physicist, J.F. Clauser & Assoc., Walnut Creek, CA, USA.
• Anton Zeilinger, born 1945 in Ried im Innkreis, Austria. PhD 1971 from University of Vienna, Austria. Professor at University of Vienna, Austria.

For more information please visit:
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2022
www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2022/10/popular-physicsprize2022.pdf

Source: www.nobelprize.org

A new wave of fusion energy experiments on UK Atomic Energy Authority’s record-breaking Joint European Torus (JET) started this month.

EUROfusion researchers are using the famous JET machine to conduct a series of tests using helium to help inform future operations at ITER, the fusion mega-project under construction in Southern France.

ITER is expected to start operations using helium and hydrogen test plasmas before commencing experiments with deuterium and tritium, the more efficient fuel used by JET to break the world record for sustained fusion energy at the end of 2021.

EUROfusion researchers will study the behaviour of the plasmas as well as test the impact of helium on JET’s tungsten and beryllium wall to help ITER efficiently build up to full power operations. The new experiments at Culham Science Centre, Oxford, started this month and will run for up to 16 weeks.

Dr Tim Luce, ITER’s Head of Science and Operation, said:
“An essential element of the ITER Research Plan is to explore control of the plasma interaction with the wall at high fusion temperatures. This needs to be addressed in the initial research phases before deuterium and tritium are used to produce fusion power in ITER.

“We have great expectations for how these experiments can help us optimise our plan to move as efficiently as possible into deuterium-tritium operation.”

JET is unique in its capabilities not only for deuterium-tritium operation, but also for operating in the required high confinement mode with pure helium and with the ITER wall materials.

Fernanda Rimini, JET Senior Manager, said:
“The ground-breaking research and innovation being done in the UK, in the framework of the EUROfusion consortium and with our partners across the globe, is all geared towards making fusion energy a reality.

“JET is one of the most important machines in the history of fusion. After breaking the record for sustained energy last year, these important new experiments will prove more science and provide crucial data for the ITER team as they prepare for operations, ultimately saving time and money on our roadmap to delivering fusion power to the grid.”

Record JET results announced in February were the clearest demonstration worldwide of the potential for fusion energy, which is based on the same processes that power the sun and stars, to deliver safe and sustainable low carbon energy in the future.

The record fifty-nine megajoules of sustained fusion energy was produced at JET by researchers from the EUROfusion consortium of experts, students and staff from across Europe, co-funded by the European Commission.

Photo: JET Control Room. Credit: UKAEA

Source: UKAEA, EUROfusion

Pietro Barabaschi has become the next Director-General of the ITER Organization as a result of the unanimous choice of the Council from among finalist candidates. In the transition period Dr. Eisuke Tada served as Interim Director-General. The new ITER Organization Director-General is expected to take office in October.

The career of Mr Barabaschi has been related to fusion research and started at JET. Among positions he has held so far were, among others, Deputy to the Project Leader and Head of the Design Integration Division in Garching/Munich (Germany), Head of Broader Approach Programme and Delivery for Fusion for Energy (F4E), Acting Director of Fusion for Energy in Barcelona, Spain.

Director-General Barabaschi made it clear that he was conscious of the responsibility taken on and felt privileged for having been selected through an intensive competitive selection process.

"The first 15 years of my career have been dedicated to ITER and I now hope to be able to take on what my predecessors have done towards our common objective. I will make it a priority to improve the integration of ITER Organization and Domestic Agencies, both essential elements of the ITER Project, now and even more in the forthcoming phases of commissioning of ITER.", stated Mr Barabaschi.

For more information please visit: www.iter.org/newsline/-/3790

Source: www.iter.org