ENEA presents results from projects complementary to ITER
6/7/2015
Second appointment at ENEA on the results of system research on June 19 2015. In its Headquarters at Lungotevere Thaon di Revel in Rome, ENEA held a workshop to present the outcomes of the “Activities on fusion physics complementary to ITER” within the Program Agreement with the Ministry of Economic Development on the Electrical System Research.
Extensive technological skills and a strong impact on the national productive system. In the background, ENEA’s contribution to the implementation of ITER, the first experimental nuclear fusion reactor, a large-scale, extremely complex project engaging international research institutions and companies employing state-of-the-art technologies.
Among the topics discussed at the workshop was the progress made towards JT60SA, the experimental Tokamak machine envisaged in Broader Approach, a 680 million euro agreement between Europe and Japan, targeted at a faster implementation of the Research Program on nuclear fusion.
The activities conducted by ENEA for JT60SA, scheduled to burn its first plasma in 2019, range from planning and implementing the Tokamak to supplying 9 out of the 18 superconductive coils constituting the whole magnet and the related coil casings, to the manufacturing of high voltage-high current power supply for plasma breakdown, of significant technological and entrepreneurial interest.
Within the scope of the activities regarding JT060SA - considered a satellite of ITER - which will provide the information necessary to the construction of the first experimental reactor NEMO, ENEA is also dedicated to designing an intense source of neutrons for the characterization of materials, to be employed in a future fusion reactor, and to the study of the neutron damage of materials.
Representatives of some of the outstanding Italian industrial companies attended the workshop, such as ASG Superconductors, A.T.I. Poseico, - JEMA, Consorzio RFX, OCEM-Energy Technology and Walter Tosto, confirming the Italian leadership in the sector and the achievements obtained through the collaboration with ENEA towards demonstrating the feasibility of producing energy from nuclear fusion.
ENEA has been playing a key role in the construction of the ITER reactor, working in close collaboration with the industry sector.
It has recently been reported that the Italian companies have achieved major results in the production of technological components for the ITER project, winning contracts worth almost one billion euro.
For more information please contact:
Aldo Pizzuto, Frascati Research Center, aldo.pizzuto@enea.it