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On Friday 3 November, ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi took part in a panel discussion on nuclear fusion organized as part of the Berlin Science Week. 

Moderated by Sakura Pascarelli (Scientific Director, European XFEL), "Nuclear fusion for a decarbonized future" featured:

— Pietro Barabaschi, Director-General, ITER Organization (keynote)
— Masaya Hanada, Director General, Naka Fusion Institute Japan
— Steven Cowley, Director, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, USA
— Piergiorgio Sonato, President, RFX Consortium, Italy
— Hartmut Zohm, Head of Tokamak Division, MPI-IPP, Germany

After describing project status, Director-General Barabaschi commented on how ITER is contributing to the world fusion research program. "Fusion is an innovation program ... it's not just one project. [...] We see now a renaissance of fusion around the world. A lot of private investment interest, a lot of companies, a lot of opportunities for young people. [...] A lot of new ideas will come up and I believe that ITER can provide some support. [...] Others may learn from what we are doing; it's part of our job I believe."

You can watch a replay of the public event at this address.

The Europe/Japan team at the JT-60SA tokamak in Naka, Japan, succeeded on 23 October 2023 in producing a tokamak plasma for the first time.

The team issued the following statement: 

"This is a major achievement by the teams involved in the operation of the biggest experimental fusion device to date using magnetic confinement. The result will be carefully examined as the teams will continue to perform more tests during the next weeks. This will culminate on 1 December when the newly built fusion research facility will be officially inaugurated in Naka in the presence of delegates from Japan and Europe. Stay tuned for further updates!"

See the press release in Japanese issued by Japan's National Institutes of Quantum Science and Technology (QST) and the article published by the European Domestic Agency, Fusion for Energy.

The IAEA's World Fusion Outlook aims to be the global reference for authoritative information and updates on fusion energy.

The IAEA has been promoting fusion energy research and development for over 60 years, and it continues to strongly support R&D and future deployment by bringing the fusion community together to create solutions for both scientific and technological challenges. This first issue of the publication outlines achievements in fusion energy; its safety, security, safeguards, nuclear law and liability challenges; as well as the role of the IAEA.

Download the full report from the IAEA website here.

The introduction to the IAEA World Fusion Outlook 2023 is available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish here (scroll down the page).