Search

The fifth campaign of spherical tokamak fusion experiments is underway at the MAST Upgrade facility at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in England. This latest campaign will focus on advancing understanding of high-pressure fusion plasma, optimising plasma control and energy confinement, refining advanced divertor designs for heat exhaust management, and validating predictive tools used to model plasma behaviour in future fusion power plants.

The Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) Upgrade, which became operational in 2020, is the world’s largest active spherical tokamak. Its test campaigns will inform the construction of the STEP demo-class fusion plant prototype that is scheduled to begin operations in 2040.

The latest research phase will last six months and involve 950 plasma pulses. More than 200 international researchers will be involved in the experiments and the results will contribute to the growing global body of experimental fusion data.

The 360° virtual tour of the ITER construction site has been updated with a new set of photos—drone footage from December 2025 that shows three vacuum vessel sector modules in the tokamak pit. Click on and rotate the new photos in the Tokamak Pit gallery to see one-third of the ITER plasma chamber from every angle.

Accessible from the NEWS & MEDIA pages of the ITER website or by clicking on the link below, the 2D tour requires no special equipment to enjoy. If you do have 3D glasses, click on the yellow goggle symbol at the top of any screen.

Click here to see the latest 360° ITER virtual tour.

The EU Fusion Safety and Regulation Course 2026, organized by the Clean Air Task Force in partnership with the Xcitech School on Science and Technology, offers professionals an opportunity to learn from leading experts—including specialists from the ITER Organization—about safety and regulatory considerations for fusion facilities. The three-day course will also cover important safety topics that apply to lab-scale fusion research today such as tritium handling and management of cryogenic systems.

Topics include case studies in safety and licensing in multiple facilities across Europe, the latest developments in the regulatory landscape in Europe and the United States, tritium safety and management, activated material safety and activated waste management, and safety practices at lab-scale fusion facilities and major accelerator facilities.

The course will take place at the headquarters of Fusion for Energy in Barcelona, Spain, 17 to 19 February 2026. Learn more here.

The prize-winning Turkmenistan team from the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) arrived at ITER on 18 December for a special presentation of the project and tour of the site.

The visit was part of the ITER-sponsored prize given for diversity at the IPhO, with Turkmenistan being the best-ranked team that had at least two women and two men. 

The IPhO is open to students under the age of 20 who have not yet entered university. The Turkmenistan team featured Nurgeldi Annagurdov (17), Dovlet Annamyradov (17), and the sisters Aysenem Kakamyradova (17) and Mahriban Kakamyradova (18). Along with being part of the team that won the ITER prize, Aysenem Kakamyradova also won the Claudine Hermann Prize for best female performance.

The delegation from Turkmenistan included the students’ high school teacher, Kerim Cherkezov, and their physics advisor, Allamyrat Amanmadov of Turkmen State University.

While on site, the team received special diplomas of recognition from ITER Deputy Director General Luo Delong and a private presentation of the ITER project given by ITER’s Deputy Director General-Chief Scientist Alain Bécoulet and Alexander Alekseev, the Deputy Head of Science & Integration. Alain Bécoulet said these sorts of initiatives to recognize emerging talent were essential for ITER. “They are 17 and 18 years old. They are the future of fusion.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched a new platform that will serve as a central hub for information on the fusion sector.

IAEA’s FUSE Fusion CONNECT platform was officially launched on 4 December 2025. It aims to make it easier for IAEA’s 180 member states to follow developments in the fusion sector and access tools such as the Fusion Portal and the Nuclear Fusion journal. The platform is also in the process of compiling a public directory of fusion organizations and machines.

The IAEA noted that the momentum in fusion energy—from record-breaking achievements in the public sector to the thriving private sector—meant that collaborative tools such as FUSE are more important than ever.

Discover the FUSE page here.

In a continuation of the merriest of traditions, ITER has released its annual holiday greeting card. This year, the card was designed by Natacha Roux and Philippe Cathala of IN-MEDIAPROD, who sought to give the video card an original twist by using AI tools to virtually decorate the Assembly Building and other ITER locations.

“We wanted to do something extraordinary this year and since artificial intelligence is everywhere now, we thought we could apply it to the card,” says Natacha.

You can enjoy their creation here.

Over the years, the ITER holiday card has evolved from a simple e-card to more elaborate video productions such as the 2019 card or the 2023 card.