Fusion for Energy

Fusion for Energy
Agency overview
Formed 27 March 2007 (2007-03-27)
Jurisdiction European Union
Headquarters Barcelona, Spain
Agency executive
  • Pietro Barabaschi, Acting director
Key document
Website fusionforenergy.europa.eu

Fusion for Energy (F4E) is the European Union (EU) organisation responsible for Europe’s contribution to ITER, the world’s largest scientific partnership aiming to demonstrate fusion as a viable and sustainable source of energy. The organisation – formally known as the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy –was created under article 45 of the Euratom Treaty by the decision of the Council of the European Union on 27 March 2007 for a period of 35 years.[1]

F4E counts 400 members of staff and its offices are located in Barcelona, in Spain. One of its main tasks is to work together with European industry and research organisations to develop and provide a wide range of high technology components for the ITER project. The European Union is the host party for the ITER project. Its contribution amounts to 45%, while the other six parties have an in-kind contribution of approximately 9% each. Since 2008, F4E has been collaborating with at least 250 companies and more than 50 R&D organisations.[2]

Mission and governance

F4E’s primary mission is to manage the European contribution to the ITER project; therefore it provides financial funds, which mostly come from the European Community budget. Among other tasks, F4E oversees the preparation of the ITER construction site in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, in France. F4E is formed by Euratom (represented by the European Commission), the Member States of the European Union and Switzerland, which participates as a third country.[3] To ensure the overall supervision of its activities, the members sit on a governing board, which has a wide range of responsibilities including appointing the director.

Fusion energy

Fusion is the process which powers the sun, producing energy by fusing together light atoms such as hydrogen at extremely high pressures and temperatures. Fusion reactors use two forms of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, as fuel.

The benefits of fusion energy are that it is an inherently safe process and it does not create greenhouse gases or long-lasting radioactive waste.[4]

The ITER project

ITER, meaning “the way” in Latin, is an international experiment aiming to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion as an energy source.[5] The machine is being constructed in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance in the South of France and is funded by seven parties: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Collectively, the parties taking part in the ITER project represent over one half of the world’s population and 80% of the global GDP.[6]

The Broader Approach activities

The Broader Approach (BA) activities are three research projects carried out under an agreement between the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and Japan, which contribute equally financially. They are meant to complement the ITER project and accelerate the development of fusion energy through R&D by cooperating on a number of projects of mutual interest.

This agreement entered into force on 1 June 2007 and runs for at least 10 years. The Broader Approach consists of three main projects located in Japan: the Satellite Tokamak Programme project JT-60SA (super advanced), the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility - Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities (IFMIF/EVEDA) and the International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC).

The DEMO project

F4E also aims to contribute to DEMO (Demonstration Power Plant). This experiment is supposed to generate significant amounts of electricity over extended periods and will be self-sufficient in tritium, one of the necessary gases to create fusion. The first commercial fusion electricity power plants are set to be established following DEMO, which is set to be larger in size than ITER and to produce significantly larger fusion power over long periods: a continuous production of up to 500 megawatts of electricity.

Management difficulties

A report by the consultancy Ernst & Young published in 2013 by the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee found that F4E has suffered from significant management difficulties. According to the report, "the organisation faced a series of internal problems that have only been gradually addressed, notably an organisational structure ill-adapted for project-oriented activities."[2] From 2010, a host of reforms were undertaken within F4E, including a reshuffling and reorientation of the governance and management structures, as well as a cost-savings programme.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ European Council (30 March 2007). "COUNCIL DECISION of 27 March 2007 establishing the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy and conferring advantages upon it". Official Journal of the European Union. L98: 50–72. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Potential for reorganisation within the ITER project to improve cost-effectiveness" (PDF). Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Switzerland officializes ITER participation". www.iter.org. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Conn, R. W.; et al. (1990). Fusion reactor economic, safety and environmental prospects. New York: Plenum Press.
  5. ↑ "ITER - the way to new energy". ITER. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
  6. ↑ "ITER takes next step towards nuclear fusion energy". The Manufacturer. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
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