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With the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, FuseNet (The European Fusion Education Network) and ENEN (The European Nuclear Education Network) have started a new cooperation between their networks.

At the General Assembly meeting that took place at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Prof. Walter Ambrosini (President of ENEN, left) and Prof. Niek Lopes Cardozo (President of FuseNet, right) have signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the two networks. While the FuseNet Association was founded in 2010 and ENEN was established much earlier in 2003, their networks are in many ways similar.

We have much to learn from each other

There are many areas in which FuseNet and ENEN hope to benefit from each other's knowledge. As the nuclear aspects of fusion energy become more prominent - ITER is truly a nuclear device - the need to provide fusion students and engineers with proper education and training in this field becomes ever larger. Likewise, nuclear engineers are in high demand in the fusion enterprises now, and they may benefit from a fusion training.

Another field where clearly the fusion world can learn lessons from the fission community is the Job taxonomy, Human Resource strategy and derived from that, an Education and Training policy. So, more than enough reasons to join forces with ENEN. For the signing ceremony FuseNet honoured by the live presence of the president of ENEN Prof. Walter Ambrosini, who with his presence underscored the importance ENEN attaches to this collaboration.

"We have much to learn from each other", concluded Prof. Niek Lopes Cardozo. "I’m sure it will be to the benefit of both organisations and moreover, to the young generation of fusion as well as fission students".

Source: FuseNet

Pierwszy ciężki ładunek, transformator elektryczny o masie ok 90 ton, dotarł na plac budowy ITER dziś w nocy z 13 na 14 stycznia.

"W najbliższych miesiącach należy spodziewać się jeszcze bardziej imponujących ładunków, których masa będzie sięgała do 600 ton", powiedział Dyrektor ITER Osamu Motojima.

W celu zapewnienia bezpiecznej dostawy takiego ładunku do konwoju zaangażowano 120 osób, w tym 80 żołnierzy.

Więcej informacji po francusku na Haute-ProvenceInfo.com.

The Korean Domestic Agency signed an important contract with Korean supplier Wonil Corp. for the ITER vacuum vessel gravity supports on 11 December 2014. Nine sets of gravity supports will be assembled under the lower ports to allow for the vacuum vessel's thermal expansion and to sustain loads in the radial, toroidal and vertical directions.

The supplier Wonil Corp. is a leading company in the heavy machining industry and has good experience with the ITER quality system through its participation in the procurement of the ITER blanket shield blocks and the assembly tooling. During the signing ceremony, the company strongly expressed its enthusiasm to carry out the mission and meet the demands of the vacuum vessel schedule and quality requirements for ITER.

Source: ITER

“Fusion in Europe” magazine continues to spread the latest news about the progress of fusion research. The new issue begins optimistically with the statement that EUROfusion marks the beginning of a new era. Looking around the world of fusion there are updates about JET project, WEST project, power plant DEMO and its correlation with ITER. Reading this issue you also get a view from journalist Daniel Clery giving his opinion on diversity of fusion research.

All articles are available online.

Almost like passing the torch every six months the Presidency of the European Council of the EU is held by a different member state. It is the 12th time that Italy has been put in the driving seat of EU integration in order to set the political agenda. One of the three priorities, set by one of the EU’s founding members, has been economic growth and employment. Europe needs to kick start its economy, become more competitive, unleash its potential and find inspiration. Science and innovation tick all of the previous boxes because they are vital in Europe’s search of an industrial renaissance. Big science projects like ITER enhance this possibility and drive our ambition to think and act big! 

This line of thinking led la Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo ecnomico sostenible (ENEA), Italy’s National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, and Confidustria Lombardia, the confederation of Lombardy’s industry, to organise during the Italian Presidency a seminar on “ITER- the way to global competitiveness through European fusion” on 24 November 2014 in Milan. 

The seminar brought together 80 participants and a distinguished set of speakers from politics, research, industry and enterprise. ENEA reminded the participants of Italy’s proven track record in the field of fusion research. The know-how and the commitment to support R&D in this scientific domain appear to have paid off. The statement was confirmed by F4E’s statistics indicating that Italy has secured the second position from all member states, receiving for the period 2008-2014 an amount close to 800 million EUR for its involvement to ITER. 

The strategy of investing in big science projects and in fusion energy was also discussed. Policy-makers were of the opinion that not placing all eggs in one basket is the sensible way to go about rethinking Europe’s energy policy and stimulating industrial expertise. The unique selling points of big science projects are the de-facto international collaboration with different entities, the critical mass of skills, and the expectation of continuity through a follow up project. These points were highlighted by F4E contractors present at the meeting, who shared with the rest of the audience the tangible benefits of their involvement. In order to maintain the industrial momentum and keep skills alive there has to be continuity in big projects as such. Unlocking the potential of SMEs and encouraging them through different measures to participate, were also highlighted because of their remarkable flexibility to acquire specialised skills and cope with the evolving demands of the market of innovation.

Source: F4E