ITER NEWSLINE
289
Fusion research benefits society (1/4)
Fusion research benefits society (1/4)
Developing fusion science, engineering and technology to a point where fusion energy can be supplied to the grid is one of the most exciting challenges of the 21st century, and potentially one of the most rewarding.
Small and large advances are being made daily. Improvements in industrial processes, new materials, innovative remote handling technologies and computer modelling techniques ... these products of fusion R&D at the cutting edge of science and technology are not only benefitting the fusion development effort, but also society at large through spinoff technologies.
In a new series of videos produced by the European Commission, we're introduced to some of the factories, businesses and laboratories that are creating spinoff applications that interest the aerospace, biomedical, and telecommunications industries.
The first of the series takes us to the EPFL institute in Switzerland, where work on ITER's powerful plasma heaters (gyrotrons) has led to the mastery in the domain of high frequency electromagnetic waves. A spinoff company, Swissto12, now supplies components for terahertz signal transmission—an area of the electromagnetic spectrum that cannot be transmitted by any conventional technology.
Click here to view the video...
Many more videos are available on the ITER video page...
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