The EUROfusion, manages and funds European fusion research activities on behalf of Euratom. 30 research organisations and about 150 laboratories, universities and industries from 26 European Union member states plus Switzerland and Ukraine. The aim is to produce electrical energy by nuclear fusion.

Website

EURATOM-Adhoc-2014-20

Unipi role Third part
Project website https://www.euro-fusion.org/
DICI Team Leader: Prof. Nicola Forgione, Dip. di Ingegneria Civile e Industriale

The European fusion programme is based on the Roadmap to the realization of fusion energy. The roadmap breaks the overall task into eight missions. EUROfusion funds the Research Units in accordance with their participation to the mission-oriented Work Packages outlined in the Consortium Work Plan. Each Work Package is lead by a team of project leaders from the Research Units. In general the programme has two aims: Preparing for ITER experiments and developing concepts for the fusion power demonstration plant DEMO.

The objectives of the EUROfusion ITER Physics Programme for ITER lie in the development of plasma regimes of operation for ITER and in investigating solutions to manage the plasma’s heat exhaust. The second issue is connected with concepts for the divertor, which is the area of the reactor wall that experiences the highest heat and particle fluxes. ITER Physics also studies divertor configurations that could reduce this heat loads.
Laying the foundation for a Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO) to follow ITER by 2050 is the objective of the EUROfusion ower Plant Physics & Technology Work Programme. The central requirements for DEMO lie in its capability to generate several 100 Megawatt of net electricity to the grid and to operate with a closed fuel-cycle (i.e. to produce and burn tritium in a closed cycle).

A number of outstanding technology and physics integration issues must be resolved before a DEMO plant concept selection is made. Each of them has very strong interdependencies. One is the selection of the concept for the breeding blanket. Another matter is the selection of the divertor concept and its layout configuration. The design of the first-wall (i.e. the innermost lining of the reactor wall) and its integration into the blanket is a further issue, since it must take into account that the first-wall might see higher heat loads than assumed in previous studies. Furthermore, there is the selection of the minimum pulse duration of DEMO and of the corresponding mix of plasma heating systems (i.e. heating and current-drive systems).

In 2014, 29 research organisations and universities from 26 European countries plus Switzerland signed the EUROfusion consortium agreement. In addition about 100 Third Parties contribute to the research activities through the Consortium members. EUROfusion collaborates with Fusion for Energy (Spain) and intensively supports the ITER International Organization (France).

Coordinator
MAX PLANCK GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FÖRDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN (Germany)

Other participants

• FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM JÜLICH (Germany)
• KARLSRUHE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (Germany)
• ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (Switzerland)
• CULHAM CENTRE FOR FUSION ENERGY (United Kingdom)
• COMMISSARIAT À L'ÉNERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ÉNERGIES ALTERNATIVES (France)
• CENTRO DE INVESTIGATACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS (Spain)
• AUSTRIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (Austria)
• ECOLE ROYALE MILITAIRE-KONINKLIJKE MILITAIRE SCHOOL (Belgium)
• BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (Bulgaria)
• RUĐER BOŠKOVIĆ INSTITUTE (Croatia)
• UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS (Cyprus)
• ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC (Czech Republic)
• TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK (Denmark)
• UNIVERSITY OF TARTU (Estonia)
• VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTRE OF FINLAND (Finland)
• NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH "DEMOKRITOS" (Greece)
• HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE (Hungary)
• DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY (Ireland)
• AGENZIA NAZIONALE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L’ENERGIA E LO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE (Italy)
• UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA (Latvia)
• LITHUANIAN ENERGY INSTITUTE (Lithuania)
• FOUNDATION FOR FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH ON MATTER (The Netherlands)
• INSTITUTE OF PLASMA PHYSICS AND LASER MICROFUSION (Poland)
• UNIVERSIDADE TÉCNICA DE LISBOA (Portugal)
• INSTITUTUL DE FIZICA ATOMICA (Romania)
• COMENIUS UNIVERSITY (Slovakia)
• JOZEF STEFAN INSTITUTE (Slovenia)
• VETENSKAPSRÅDET (Sweden)