World – Page 2 – Fusion Group

Season’s Greetings

December 21, 2023

DIII-D National Fusion Facility Achieves Historic 1,600-Hour Research Campaign

July 12, 2023

A worker inside the vessel at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility (source: General Atomics)

The DIII-D National Fusion Facility, located in San Diego, California, is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the United States and is operated by General Atomics for the US Department of Energy. This facility plays an important role in optimizing the tokamak approach to fusion energy production since the mid-1980s and provides valuable data for the engineering design phase of ITER.

DIII-D has recently been in the news because has completed a two-year research campaign that resulted in a record-breaking 1,600 hours of plasma research and 140 groundbreaking studies, leading to many transformative advancements for delivering cost-effective fusion energy.

Using AI to Enhance Nuclear Fusion: The Potential and Challenges

May 3, 2023

On 14^thof March, our group attended an AI for Good webinar organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) entitled “AI for advancing fusion energy through enhancing simulation”. The talk was delivered by Dr. Michael Churchill from the Princeton’s Plasma Physics Laboratory. The main scope of the webinar was focused on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in advancing sustainable development goals, specifically towards fusion energy as well as the potential of AI in enhancing simulation and accelerating research and development (R&D) in nuclear fusion.

Sant Jordi’s Day 2023

April 21, 2023April 21, 2023

On April 23^rd, Catalonia celebrates “La Diada de Sant Jordi,” or Saint Jordi’s Day, a deeply ingrained tradition and one of the region’s most cherished occasions. While the original custom involved men presenting women with a red rose and women gifting men a book, it has evolved, allowing anyone to give a book, a rose, or both to anyone they choose.

IFMIF-DONES Starts Construction Phase

April 13, 2023April 13, 2023

First meeting of the DONES Steering Committee. (Photo: IFMIF-DONES)

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility – Demo Oriented NEutron Source (IFMIF-DONES) has officially started its construction phase in Granada, Spain. On 16 March, the official DONES Steering Committee met for its first meeting in Granada and to celebrate the formal start of construction.

Breaking Barriers: Launch of OECD-NEA Report on Improving Gender Balance in Nuclear Sector

April 6, 2023April 6, 2023

On March 8, coinciding with the International Women’s Day, our group attended the webinar “Improving gender balance in the nuclear sector: Report launch“ organized by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The nuclear industry is a crucial part of our energy infrastructure, providing a significant portion of the world’s electricity. However, the sector has traditionally been male-dominated, with women making up only a small fraction (less than 25%) of the workforce. The same applies to its sub-sectors including fusion where our group belongs.

In the webinar on March 8, a report was launched to address the issue of gender imbalance in the nuclear sector. The report provides insights and recommendations based on the first publicly available international data on gender balance in the nuclear sector. The data was collected from over 8 000 women in the nuclear workforce in 32 countries, as well as human resources data from 96 nuclear organisations in 17 countries. Based on the findings, a comprehensive, evidence-driven policy framework is proposed with practical recommendations.