Japan and Euratom sign up to fusion cooperation
An agreement creating a privileged partnership between Japan and Euratom in fusion energy research was signed on 5 February in Tokyo. The agreement is part of the 'Broader Approach' to fusion research, approved during the negotiations on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project. ITER involves the EU, the US, Japan, Russia, South Korea, China and India. Under the agreement, Japan and Euratom will work together over 10 years on three individual projects intended to accelerate the realisation of fusion energy. Fusion is a potential clean and sustainable energy source for the 21st century. 'ITER and the Broader Approach, together with the current level of fusion research being undertaken worldwide, represent a big step towards the realisation of fusion power,' said the nominee Director General of the ITER Organisation, Kaname Ikeda. The three projects, to be carried out in Japan, are the following: - Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities for the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF/EVEDA) The future realisation of fusion energy will require materials which have endurance and show low radioactivity against the exposure to the harsh thermal and irradiation conditions inside a fusion reactor. The IFMIF will allow testing and qualification of advanced materials in the environment conditions of a future fusion power reactor. The engineering validation and design activities aim at producing a detailed, complete and fully integrated engineering design of IFMIF. - International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC) This will involve activities relating to the demonstration power reactor (DEMO), and in particular design research and development (R&D), computational simulation and ITER Remote Experimentation. - Satellite Tokamak Programme The JT-60 tokamak will be upgraded to an advanced superconducting tokamak JT-60 SA, and exploited under the framework of this Agreement as a 'satellite' facility to ITER. The Satellite Tokamak Programme is expected to develop operating scenarios and address key physics issues for an efficient start-up of ITER experimentation and for research towards DEMO.