Fusion: European Commission “SOFT Innovation Prize 2018” awarded at the Symposium on Fusion Technology in Italy

An innovative tungsten production process, the super-material used in fusion reactors and more exposed to the highest heat flows; a mini robot capable of cutting and welding in fusion machines quickly and reliably; a CAD code for evaluating the effects of radiation on the various components of reactors. These are the three research projects on fusion of the European Commission for excellence in innovation and success in transferring technology to industry.

The prizes were awarded by Patrick Anthony Child, Deputy Director-General for “Research and Innovation” of the European Commission, as part of the opening ceremony of the Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2018), one of the most important international conferences in the field of research on energy from fusion, organized by ENEA and scheduled until Friday, September 21 in Giardini Naxos.

Jens Reiser of the KIT Institute (Germany) was awarded the first prize for the development of a ductile tungsten, a material with excellent thermal conductivity and high melting point, ideal for applications in nuclear fusion and particularly in the reactor as material directly facing the plasma and exposed to the greater heat flow. This innovative process of ductile tungsten production by cold rolling, opens the way to the use of tungsten as a structural material thus allowing to greatly simplify the design of the reactor.

The second prize went to the innovative robot by Simon Kirk, researcher at the UKAEA (U.K Atomic Energy Agency), with a very small size as compared to the most widespread one,  but equally capable of quickly and reliably cutting and welding the internal tubes of the reactor, difficult to access and with extremely small sizes. The new robot also makes it possible to simplify the design of the reactor and significantly reduce maintenance times.

Ycan Wu of the INEST Institute (China) was awarded the third prize for his development of a CAD-based, particle transport code for nuclear and radiation protection applications for the evaluation of the effects of radiation on reactor components. The innovation allows to simulate with a single application in a simple, fast and reliable way, the diffusion of various types of radiation in complex nuclear systems and to determine the macroscopic effects on its companion.

For further information:
Paola Batistoni,  paola.batistoni@enea.it