Talk

Celebrating 40 Years of ICRF Physics on JET: Key Insights and Lessons for Future Fusion Devices

Mervi Mantsinen during her talk “40 Years of ICRF Physics on the JET Tokamak: Highlights and Lessons Learned for Future Facilities” at the 25th Topical Conference on Radio-Frequency Power in Plasmas. Photo credits: H. Faugel (IPP)

The 25th Topical Conference on Radio-Frequency Power in Plasmas took place from 19 to 22 May 2025 and attracted more than 130 participants. Our group leader, Mervi Mantsinen, delivered an invited talk at this conference reviewing key milestones from four decades of Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) physics on the Joint European Torus (JET), highlighting its significant contributions to fusion research and implications for future reactors.

JET, Europe’s leading tokamak device, has achieved exceptional performance surpassing its design specifications, operating with magnetic fields of up to 4 T, plasma currents of 7 MA, and auxiliary heating powers totalling 37 MW. Its versatile ICRF system, with a frequency range of 25–56 MHz, has enabled a wide array of heating and current drive experiments.

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JOREK code meeting in Naples

Pizzofalcone lookout, Naples, just above the meeting location.

From May 12 to 16, the 2025 JOREK general meeting was held in Naples, Italy. Nicola Isernia and colleagues from the Federico II University of Naples organized the logistics for hosting the meeting. The meeting was held in the Federico II Congress Center, via Partenope, 36, just in front of the sea and below the wonderful lookout of Pizzofalcone and very close to the historical city center of Naples.

From our research group, Federico Cipolletta, participated in the event to share the work he performed in the JOREK code.

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Fusion Group contributions at the BSC Doctoral Symposium 2025

From May 6th to 8th, two members of our Fusion group, Pau Manyer and Hernán Domingo, participated in the 12th International BSC Severo Ochoa Doctoral Symposium 2025, presenting the latest progress and results of their ongoing projects. This event provides an opportunity for MSc and PhD students, as well as early postdoctoral scientists, to present their research projects in either oral or poster format. This edition saw more than 40 participants from a variety of backgrounds disseminate their research topics and achievements.

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BSC’s Alya4Fusion at the Fusion Neutronics Meeting 2025

Group photo of all the Fusion Neutronics Meeting 2025 participants on the doorsteps of the “Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales” at UNED campus. Credits: UNED.

From April 7th through 10th, Fusion Group Researcher Ezequiel Goldberg participated in the Fusion Neutronics Meeting 2025: ITER and beyond, organised this year by the “Tecnologías de Fisión, Fusión y Fuentes de Irradiación” group (TECFIR) from UNED with the support of ITER and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The meeting venue was the Facultad de Educación building at the UNED campus in Madrid, Spain, and the event gathered experts from around the world to discuss recent advances and future directions in fusion neutronics.

On the event’s third day, Ezequiel presented the work “Neutron flux in IFMIF-DONES operation room: a comparison between Monte Carlo and deterministic codes.” The presentation focused on recent advancements in NEUTRO, the neutronics module of Alya, developed as part of the Alya4Fusion initiative. NEUTRO simulates neutron flux distribution and the resulting interactions with reactor materials, key to improving the accuracy and safety of fusion reactor designs.

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Presentation of a novel method for the detection of alpha heating

Group photo of the 18th Technical Meeting on Energetic Particles in Magnetic Confinement Systems.

The 18th Technical Meeting on Energetic Particles in Magnetic Confinement Systems took place from 17th to 21st March in Sevilla, Spain. This conference tackles the state-of-the-art of physics on energetic particles in magnetically confined plasmas, delving into relevant aspects for fusion plasmas such as triggering and controlling instabilities, studying Alfvén modes, runaway electrons and fusion born alphas. Our group member Dani Gallart was invited to deliver a talk on a novel method for the detection of alpha heating.

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Alya4fusion at the 51st IOP Annual Plasma Physics Conference

Hernan Domingo presenting Alya4fusion at the 51st IOP Annual Plasma Physics Congress.

From April 7th to 10th, our PhD student Hernán Domingo, had the opportunity to attend the 51st IOP Annual Plasma Physics Conference, held at the Institute of Physics headquarters in London. The event brought together experts and researchers from all over the UK and beyond to share the latest developments in plasma physics and fusion research.

During the conference, Hernán presented our work on “Alya4fusion: A Digital Twin framework for nuclear fusion reactors”, a project led by our group. Alya4fusion is an ambitious initiative aiming to become the first unified multiphysics, fully coupled simulation framework for fusion reactors, designed to run on high-performance computing (HPC) systems.

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