FUSION IN EUROPE NEWS & VIEWS ON THE PROGRESS OF FUSION RESEARCH WHY EUROfusion? WINTER 2019 FUSION IN EUROPE WINTER 2019 Contents MY REASON WHY 4 NEW JET PROGRAMME 10 ? Picture: courtesy of UKAEA ??? ? POSTER ? WHY EUROfusion?6 WENDELSTEIN 7-X 12 ? Picture: Christophe Roux © Petra Nieckchen, Head of SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE Imprint Communications Dept. ? HERE: FUSION IN EUROPE This magazine or parts of it may not https://tinyurl.com/yc7lz3xm ISSN 1818-5355 be reproduced without permission. ? Text, pictures and layout, except whe- @FusionInCloseUp ? re noted, courtesy of the EUROfusion members. The EUROfusion members @fusion2050 are the Research Units of the Europe- EUROfusion linkedin.com/company/eurofusion/ Programme Management Unit – Garching an Fusion Programme. Responsibility Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching / Munich, Germany for the information and views expres- ATTENTION new readers! phone: +49-89-3299-4128 sed in this newsletter lies entirely with You’ll find many acronyms and terms in this email: [email protected] the authors. Neither the Research Units or anyone acting on their behalf magazine that are most likely foreign to you. editor: Karl Tischler highlighted Fear not! We've them and provided This project has received funding from the is responsible for any damage resul- Euratom research and training programme ting from the use of information cont- easy-to-understand descriptions on our website: 2014-2018 and 2019-2020 under grant agreement No 633053. ained in this publication. www.euro-fusion.org/glossary 2 Newsletter Eurofusion 2016-01_final_aktu120416.indd 4 01.06.16 11:28 FUSION IN EUROPE | Winter 2019 | EUROfusion | Karl Tischler OPEN SCIENCE PART 2 16 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR On the way in to work this morning I listened to a Freako- nomics podcast “How to Change Your Mind”. It pointed 14 Soft Innovation Prize out that we often believe we know more than we actually do, and when asked to explain something as simple as how a ballpoint pen works we cannot. 20 Impressions Since starting at EUROfusion in late February, I have asked a lot of people across the EUROfusion Programme 22 ITER Generation to explain what it is all about. While there were common themes, people’s answers 23 Consortium Members varied to some degree, usually based on their experience with and within EUROfusion. The leader of a scientific institution or head of a fusion department’s answer was Cover: Picture by Tim Graf on Unsplash notably different than that of a PhD student. Picture: Christophe Roux I’ve tried to capture many of these answers for you in this issue. And I hereby invite you, as you read these answers, FIRST-EVER READER SURVEY to revisit your own and share it with us. Do you like hot beverages? Then you need one of our le- gendary coffee mugs! You will have the chance to win WIN ME! one by visiting www.euro-fusion.org/survey and simply sharing with me how we can make Fusion in Europe a better read for you and better are letting others know about fusion, fusion research efforts and the EUROfusion Programme. Just don’t ask me to explain how the coffee machine here works. www.euro-fusion.org/survey Karl Tischler Editor of Fusion in Europe [email protected] 2 3 FUSION IN EUROPE MY REASONS WHY BY TONY DONNÉ, Two important actions taken at the start of EUROFUSION PROGRAMME MANAGER Horizon 2020 have drastically improved the coherence of the programme and have turned European fusion research into a focused and Before the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and goal-oriented activity. Innovation programme, European fusion re- search was coordinated in a limited number of First, 29 national institutes from 27 different areas, with the Joint European Torus (JET) as countries established the EUROfusion consor- the only common facility. Each country had its tium, with a central programme management own plan and priorities, and often also its own unit. In 2017, Ukraine joined as 30th member. research facilities that were mostly nationally exploited. Although there was a common goal – Second, the European Research Roadmap to the to achieve fusion electricity – all countries had Realisation of Fusion Energy was drafted, with different approaches and often focused only on the ambition to realise fusion electricity by the a limited number of aspects. middle of this century. 4 FUSION IN EUROPE | Winter 2019 | EUROfusion | EUROfusion is a big leap forward in making fusion research in Europe more focused and goal-oriented. The system of loosely coupled na- tional research programmes during the previ- ous European Framework Programme has been transformed into one of the most coherent, geo- graphically distributed, European research pro- grammes. In the meantime, EUROfusion has become a brand with its own distinct identity. Nowadays, Strictly based on the specifications of the roadm- when you visit international fusion conferences ap, EUROfusion defines its research priorities you see many posters and presentations with our and co-funds research programmes. Under unmistakable blue circle. I am often commended co-funding, consortium members contribute by leaders from other countries for the enormous about fifty percent whileEuratom directly funds impact EUROfusion is making in the field. Just a the second half. Co-funding has proven to be few days before writing this address, a Japanese very successful in aligning national programmes director expressed how impressed he was by the to the roadmap. synergy of Europe’s tokamak and stellarator pro- grammes which are working together towards The detailed work programme is jointly defined one common goal. by the best scientists across labs in Europe and makes optimum use of research facilities to max- Looking back at the past years, we can be proud imise output. EUROfusion organises experimen- of the many achievements the Consortium has tal campaigns at the national facilities and also realised. However, many challenges remain to helps researchers use facilities located elsewhere be tackled in Horizon Europe – the upcoming around the world. By combining the specific Framework Programme running from 2021 to strengths of the national research programmes, 2025. For instance, the DEMO design activity EUROfusion has created a truly Euro pean re- needs to be expanded, which implies a further search effort. This has made Europe a stronger shift from plasma physics and fusion science to global actor and the global leader in the field of fusion technology. It will be a challenge to keep fusion research. the required skills and expertise on board and retain the European labs’ eagerness and match- One of the most striking improvements since the ing national funding during this transition. start of the EUROfusion Consortium is the joint programming of the various tokamak devices. Elsewhere in this issue I am quoted as having Annual campaign planning starts by defining compared myself to a captain of an airplane the high-level objectives and prioritising the tasked with repairing the engines while in full ideas for experiments that address them. Only flight. EUROfusion was set up in 2014 in a rel- after the priorities are set is it decided which of atively short time. As a result we had to adopt the tokamaks (or combination of them) can best many rules and regulations from EFDA, our pre- tackle the individual experimental proposals. In decessor programme, on the fly. As we prepare this way gaps are avoided and a coherent pro- for Horizon Europe, we have a golden opportu- gramme is moulded that sees scientists from all nity to improve the organisation itself. In fact, a over Europe joining experiments at JET and the dedicated in-flight repair team is already hard at various national facilities. work at improving the governance and adminis- tration of EUROfusion. Why EUROfusion? Because working collabora- tively is the best way to realise clean energy as quickly as possible. n 4 5 FUSION IN EUROPE ? ???WHY ? EUROfusion ? Continuing our examination of the basics through ? our “why” series, Fusion in Europe took it upon it- self to ask and find out why the European Consorti- ? um for the Development of Fusion Energy matters. ?? Here’s what we found: Europe decided to pair science with enginee- ic successes but never actually lead to results ring and theory with implementation. like a functioning fusion reactor. And without results it becomes nearly impossible to justify Before the introduction of the EUROfusion continued public funding. ” Programme in 2014, Euratom simply funded 20% of European laboratories’ fusion research. Driven by a new sense of urgency and purpose, Laboratories and scientists were free to con- European laboratories are making tremendous duct whatever fusion-related research they progress in establishing the scientific feasibi- wanted. Since 2014, EUROfusion has priori- lity of fusion as a reliable energy source. tised and directed funding according to the European Research Roadmap to the Realisa- “Europe recognised early on the need for a stra- tion of Fusion Energy. By focusing its budget tegic plan for fusion research going forward more strategically, Euratom now pays up to in order to harness fusion energy,” explains 55% of the research activities in which the labs Gianfranco Federici, head of EUROfusion's participate. Power Plant Physics and Technology group. “EUROfusion is seeking to develop a credi- EUROfusion Programme Manager Tony Don- ble route to this goal by supporting as much né sees immense benefits. “I would say that as possible the success of ITER, and turning EUROfusion has concentrated research where what we learn from it into the concept design it is most important. Without this long-term of a feasible, reliable, safe and cost-effective strategy, fusion research would have scientif- demonstration power plant called DEMO.” 6 FUSION IN EUROPE | Winter 2019 | EUROfusion | Here’s what others had to say about why EUROfusion is important: - “Fusion is an integrated research effort with “With EUROfusion we can show that the Euro practically all Member States participating (high pean nations can work together in a common critical mass).