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Save the date! The 15th ITER International School (IIS) will be held from 20 to 24 July 2026 in Chengdu, China, co-hosted by the Engineering & Technical College of Chengdu University of Technology and the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP).

The subject of the 2026 school is "Physics and engineering of heating and current drive systems for magnetic fusion plasmas," with a scientific program coordinated by Drs. M. Huang and L. Zhang (SWIP) and Drs. M. Schneider and C. Darbos (ITER Organization). Heating and current drive systems are essential for achieving ITER’s fusion power demonstration goals—they not only heat the plasma up to the high temperatures required for thermonuclear deuterium-tritium fusion, but also drive electric currents in the plasma and control its behaviour. To achieve these objectives, a range of heating and current drive systems based on the injection of radiofrequency waves and fast neutrals into the plasma are applied in magnetic fusion devices. Heating and current drive systems involve a wide range of engineering designs, with technical issues to be resolved, and physics processes that need to be described in an integrated way together with the reaction of the plasma to such waves/fast neutrals. 

The 2026 ITER International School will focus on the engineering of heating and current drive systems as well as the physics processes underlying their use for plasma heating, current drive, and the control of plasma scenarios in ITER and, more broadly, in magnetic fusion devices.

Further information on the 2026 school will be available in the next few weeks together with an announcement on the start of pre-registration. Find out more about past schools here.

Glasgow. Sharm El-Sheikh. Dubai. Baku. For the past five years, fusion energy has emerged as a discussion topic at the annual United Nations climate change conferences—the Conferences of the Parties, or COPs. This year in Belém, Brazil, COP30 is taking shape as a pivotal moment in the global effort to reduce energy consumption and turn to clean energy sources. 

On 12 November, at the pavilion of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), ITER and the IAEA co-hosted a panel on “Fusion Energy as a Clean Energy Solution.” The panel explored the current state of fusion from different angles: ITER’s ongoing leadership, the surge in private sector investment and fusion initiatives, the role of the IAEA and NGOs such as the Clean Air Task Force in shaping policy, standards, and other essential support functions, and a Nordic case study involving the governments of Sweden and Finland and centred around the private-sector firm Novatron. 

COP30 runs from 10 to 21 November. See all information here.

--On the fusion panel are (left to right): Laban Coblentz, ITER Head of Communication; Olov Hemström, Head of Strategic Projects at Business Sweden; Caroline Anderson, Director of External Affairs for the Fusion Industry Association; Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General; and Rebecca Tremain, UK Director of the Clean Air Task Force.

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the ITER Organization have announced they will be hosting a session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Lise Meitner program in 2026 in Cadarache.

The program, named after the Austrian-Swedish physicist who was renowned internationally for her work on nuclear fission, aims to enhance the participation of women in the nuclear sector by providing early- and mid‑career women professionals with opportunities to participate in a multi-week visiting professional program and advance their technical and soft skills. 

Around fifteen participants from IAEA member states will be welcomed for two weeks for training sessions, workshops, and conferences led by experts from ITER, the CEA, and the IAEA. They will also have the opportunity to tour state-of-the-art research facilities at both ITER and the CEA, allowing them to discover the latest technological advancements and gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with managing large-scale projects in the nuclear energy sector.

See the press release in English and in French.

-- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, CEA Chairman Anne-Isabelle Etienvre, and ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi announce the news at ITER on 13 November.

ITER Scientist Fellow Livia Casali has been named winner of the Katherine E. Weimar Award by the American Physical Society (APS) "for outstanding scientific contributions to plasma boundary physics and core-edge integration through innovative experiments and modelling supporting the operation of high-performance core plasmas, and for exemplary leadership."

A professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (USA), Casali also contributes her knowledge and expertise as part of the ITER Scientist Fellow network and has participated in the recent updating of the ITER Research Plan as an international expert. Her work focuses on boundary physics and core-edge integrated solutions with special emphasis on the role of the radiative divertor, divertor detachment, pedestal fuelling, impurity behaviour and negative triangularity. 

The Katherine E. Weimar Award is presented every two years to a woman scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the field of plasma physics.

See the original article on the University of Tennessee Knoxville website.
See more about the Katherine E. Weimar Award here.
--Photo courtesy of the University of Tennessee Knoxville