Physicists of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have combined a new machine learning strategy with their computer models to drastically improve the accuracy of simulations modelling Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). This technique leverages past experiments to calibrate simulations, enabling to predict the outcome of new experiments with higher accuracy than simulations on their own.
Our team members Oriol Fernández and José Lorenzo attended the 7th International Workshop on Numerical Modelling of High-Temperature Superconductors from 22nd to 23rd June. The event was planned to be held in Nancy, France, in 2020 but due to the current pandemic situation it had to be postponed and finally took place remotely in 2021.
This week, from 14th to 16th December 2020, our team member José Lorenzo participated in the EUROfusion Work Package Magnets (WPMAG) Annual Meeting that took place virtually due to the travel restrictions associated to the covid-19 pandemics.
Our team member José Lorenzo attended the 31st edition of the Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT2020) that was held virtually last week. The event was organized by the Ruđer Bošković Institute (IRB), the largest Croatian research institute in natural sciences and technology. In normal circumstances SOFT 2020 would have taken place in Dubrovnik, Croatia, but due to the COVID-19 pandemics the organizing committee decided to run the event virtually. As explained by the Chair of the International Organizing Committee Dr Tonci Tadic, “delaying or postponing SOFT 2020 was not an option due to the fast development of fusion research and the exciting decade of fusion successes ahead of us”.
Due to their exceptionally large dimensions, four of the six poloidal field coils that will be installed in the ITER machine cannot be produced off site and shipped, and therefore have to be manufactured in the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility, a factory set up on the ITER site in Caradache, France. Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Domestic Agency, is in charge of procuring five of these magnets, and manages the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility and the contractors involved in their fabrication.
On May 20th, our Fusion Group co-organized, as part of the FusionCAT project that we are coordinating, a webinar on the DEMO Oriented Neutron Source (DONES) project given by Dr Ángel Ibarra, the Director of the Division for Fusion Technologies at Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión, CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain) and the EUROfusion Work Package Early Neutron Source Definition and Design Project Leader.
In his talk, which attracted a total of 113 participants with a variety of backgrounds and profiles from several countries, Ángel discussed the background of the project together with its present status and near-future plans.