Memorandum of Understanding signed

23 Apr 2010 - Sabina Griffith
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Joining forces: ITER Director-General Kaname Ikeda (3rd from right) and the President of the NFRI, Gyung-Su Lee (3rd from left), after signing at the MEST this week. Also in the picture are Moon Gi CHOI (Deputy Director MEST), Dae Soo YOON(MEST Director General), Jung Hyun KIM (Vice Minister MEST), Hyun Su KIM (Director MEST) and Ki Jung JUNG (Director General, ITER Korea).

The ITER Organization and the Korean National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding this week that sets out the terms for the use of the Korean superconducting tokamak KSTAR for vital tests in preparation for ITER operations.

The cooperation will "... provide opportunities to exchange ideas, information, skills and techniques and to collaborate in various research and development areas for ITER construction and commissioning and in various KSTAR experiments and upgrades as ITER pilot operation." Areas of cooperation will include cryoplant and cryo-distribution, superconducting magnet quality control, heat treatment, winding, CODAC, leak detection as well as heating and current drive technologies. The cooperation also encompasses joint research activities in KSTAR on ITER-relevant experiments such as plasma start-up scenarios, plasma modelling and simulation, particle fuelling and exhaust technologies, plasma-wall interactions, and diagnostics. A joint KSTAR-ITER Simulator Center will be established for integrated modelling and analysis of plasma simulations. The exchange of researchers and staff from both institutions is encouraged.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Seoul on Monday, 19 April 2010, by ITER Director-General Kaname Ikeda and the President of the NFRI, Gyung-Su Lee.