On 21 September, a ceremony was held at Western Superconducting Technologies (WST) in Xi'an, China, to mark the completion of the final batch of niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) superconducting strands for ITER's toroidal field magnet system.   As part of a Procurement Arrangement signed with the ITER Organization in 2008, the Chinese Domestic Agency is responsible for the procurement of approximately 35 tonnes of Nb3Sn strand. The ceremony celebrated the successful completion of this production, which fully complies with ITER requirements and has been accepted by the ITER Central Team. The strands will now be delivered to the cable supplier in China that will produce the rope-type cable at the heart of the ITER cable-in-conduit conductors.   Representatives of the ITER Organization, the Chinese Domestic Agency, local government, and industry were present to witness the departure of the final batch of Nb3Sn strand.   In order to meet the tough technical and quality requirements of the ITER Organization, the Chinese Domestic Agency set up an ISO9001 quality management system and passed on the quality requirements to WST—a supplier with extensive experience in the production of titanium (Ti) components, but that was new to the superconducting wire business. WST improved its quality assurance system and carried out significant R&D efforts before selecting in 2009 a process called "internal tin" for the manufacturing of Nb3Sn wire. A first batch of 500 kgs passed review by the Chinese Domestic Agency and the ITER Organization. WST was awarded the contract for Nb3Sn strand manufacturing in 2009 as the exclusive Chinese supplier.   Celebrating a successful chapter in the industrial effort to build ITER magnets. The completed wire will now be delivered to the cable supplier in China that will produce the rope-type cable at the heart of the ITER cable-in-conduit conductors. Mass production was in 2011 after successful strand sample tests at SULTAN, carried out according to the terms of the Procurement Arrangement. A total of 822 billets were produced and cleared by the Domestic Agency and the Central Team to be used in the ITER machine. The Nb3Sn strands meet all ITER requirements with high stability.   Thanks to the close collaboration of all parties involved, the Nb3Sn strand production could be completed successfully and on time.   "This is a perfect illustration of what ITER is about," said ITER section leader for Superconductor Systems & Auxiliaries, Arnaud Devred, who attended the ceremony. "Bringing people from all over the world to work together and solve one of the most difficult challenges of our planet: develop a safe, clean and sustainable energy source. Superconductors are no ordinary materials—they require hard work, dedication and craftsmanship and you can all be proud of what you have accomplished. ITER is not only an amazing scientific challenge, but also it is a driver that can promote the development and industrialization of enabling technologies and make our world a better place to be."

Improvements underway at Europe's largest operating fusion research facility, JET, will reduce environmental impact and make a big saving on the site's waste management costs.A new water detritiation system has been designed to recycle tritium used in fusion experiments, reducing the amount of radioactive waste that has to be sent to off-site disposal facilities.Tritium is one of the two fuels expected to be used in commercial tokamak reactors and, as such, is a vital ingredient in fusion research, particularly at JET—the only device currently capable of using it.The Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) holds small amounts of tritium that are being added to as the research centre gears up for JET's next run of deuterium-tritium fusion experiments. As a radioactive substance, it requires extremely careful handling before, during and after operations. Any material that comes into contact with tritium has the potential to become tritiated, resulting in the possible generation of radioactive waste. Up until now, with no suitable facilities on the Culham site, dealing with that material has involved transporting it to repositories or processing plants that can handle this waste.That is set to change as the water detriation system comes into operation.

​The European Domestic Agency for ITER has published a highlights document that retraces one year of activity and progress. Contract signatures, industrial achievements, events, construction milestones and fusion R&D activities are gathered in an illustrated 50-page brochure that is downloadable here. Visit the European Domestic Agency website for more information.

Imagine a world powered by a cheap, safe, clean, virtually limitless, sustainable fuel source such as water. If fuel and energy are cheap and available to all nations, that reduces global political tensions. If our energy comes from a clean-burning fuel source, that reduces air pollution. All that would be good, right? Billionaires such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen apparently think so. They've each thrown their money into a different fusion development company, each with its own idea how to solve the fusion puzzle, according to Forbes. "What we're really doing here is trying to build a star on Earth," said Laban Coblentz at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a massive fusion reactor being built by 35 countries in southern France. When Coblentz said "star," he meant that quite literally. Fusion is what keeps stars, including our own sun, burning bright. Photo: "When we succeed, it will be for the benefit of the whole world," says ITER Engineer Anna Encheva in the CNN program. Follow this link to the CNN program.

The 3rd Joint Coordination Meeting (JCM-3) in fusion R&D and related areas took place between China and Korea in Xi'an, China from 13 to 14 August. Gathering government officials, scientists and engineers from national research institutes, industries participating in ITER and the Chinese and Korean Domestic Agencies, the meeting was hosted by the Department of International Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology MOST and ITER China, with support from Western Superconducting Technologies—a supplier of ITER China located in Xián.   At the meeting, the current status of the Chinese and Korean fusion programs was passed in review as well as reports from bilateral working groups on the collaborative activities of the previous year. In 2014, China and Korea collaborated in the areas of tungsten wall/divertor and plasma-wall interaction; DEMO reactor design; lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) physics and technology; and ITER procurements including blanket shield blocks, AC/DC convertors and Test Blanket Modules.   The next bilateral meeting will take place in August 2016 in Korea.

​In a press release issued on 6 October, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced the successful testing of the ITER central solenoid conductor under conditions comparable to ITER operation.The tests, which were carried out at a JAEA test facility in Naka, Japan, by an international team, measured the performance of the central solenoid conductor under the same magnetic field and strain that it will face in the ITER machine. Results showed high performance.According to Procurement Arrangements signed with the ITER Organization, the central solenoid will be wound in the US from niobium-tin conductor produced in Japan.The positive test results are a significant milestone on the road to producing the 1,000-metric-ton electromagnet that will allow a powerful current to be induced in the ITER plasma and maintained during long plasma pulses.The JAEA press release is available here (in Japanese).