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Fusion researchers are constantly challenging the scientific state of the art and improving the technology. This drive lay the basis the conditions for innovation, much of which can be exploited in other sciences and industrial sectors for the benefit of society.

The SOFT Innovation Prize rewards outstanding achievements in fusion energy research showcasing opportunities of valorization in the sector. It is intended for researchers and/or industrial actors who find new solutions, possibly with wider applications, to the challenges of fusion.

SOFT stands for Symposium on Fusion Technology—the name of  conference where the prize is awarded. Following the success of the previous editions, the European Commission is holding the contest again in conjunction with SOFT 2024 (23-27 September 2024, Dublin, Ireland).

There are no specific categories for this prize. Participants are free to submit an application concerning any physics or technology innovation that has been developed in magnetic confinement fusion research and that has market potential or has been taken up (or recognized) by industry to be further developed for the market.

Entries will be assessed on originality and replicability, technical excellence, economic impact, exploitation, and plans for further development. Proposals are studied by an independent jury composed of experts in technology transfer, from business and academia.

The deadline to submit applications has been extended to 15 February 2024. See further details on the SOFT Prize website.

At the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE), the KSTAR tokamak recommenced operations in December after a major upgrade to replace the device's carbon divertor with a tungsten divertor.

According to an article on the KFE website, the original carbon divertors could take a thermal load of 5MW/m², whereas the tungsten divertor can take 10MW/m². The upgrade is critical to the goal of sustaining a 100-million-degree plasma for 300 seconds by 2026. Data from the operational campaign will be directly relevant to ITER, which will operate a tungsten divertor under similar plasma conditions in terms of shape and structure.

This testing campaign will continue through February 2024. Read more about the plans in this article in English on the KFE website, or in Korean in the Chosun Biz.

From a UKAEA press release on 20 December 2023.

Some 40 and a half years after its first pulse on 25 June 1983, JET delivered pulse number 105,842 on Tuesday 18 December 2023.

UKAEA Chief Executive Officer, Prof Sir Ian Chapman, who was in attendance in JET's control room for the final plasma experiment, said: "This is the final milestone in JET's 40-year history. Those decades of research using JET by dedicated teams of scientists and engineers have played a critical role in accelerating the development of fusion energy."

JET's final day of plasma continued to push scientific boundaries, firstly attempting an inverted plasma shape for the first time at Culham before deliberately aiming electrons at the inner wall to improve understanding of beam control and damage mechanisms. The findings of these experiments will support the development of ITER.

JET will now move on to the next phase of its life cycle in early 2024 for repurposing and decommissioning, which will last until approximately 2040.

JET was operated at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy as a Joint Undertaking of the European Community between 1977 and 2000, with the Euratom Research and Training program contributing approximately 80 percent of JET operation costs through 2021. Under the operation of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) since 2000, JET was used by 4,800 EUROfusion consortium experts, students and staff from across Europe.

--The JET control room on the day of final plasma experiments. Photo: UKAEA/EUROfusion