Spain, Croatia, Japan, Italy, Italy and Fusion for Energy team up to build IFMIF-DONES

Representatives of the European Commission, Fusion for Energy (F4E), Spain, Croatia, Japan and Italy signed the Multilateral International DONES Agreement (MIDA) on 21 November. The pact consolidates international collaboration to develop fusion energy at the particle accelerator in Escúzar (Granada). Fusion can provide a clean, safe, sustainable and virtually limitless source of energy, replicating the process at the centre of the sun and stars.

The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government in Madrid. The signatories were the director of IFMIF-DONES Spain, Ángel Ibarra; the director of Fusion for Energy (F4E), Marc Lachaise; the director of the Ruđer Bošković Institute (Croatia), David M. Smith; the president of QST (Japan), Koyasu Shigeo, and the vice-president of INFN (Italy), Diego Bettoni.

The agreement establishes a framework for the governance and management of the DONES science programme and defines the allocation of resources. In doing so, the signatories commit to collaborate to build and operate IFMIF-DONES, a state-of-the-art infrastructure dedicated to study and validate materials for future fusion reactors.

Fusion for Energy (F4E), the Barcelona-based EU agency in charge of the European contribution to ITER and other fusion projects, will manage the European contribution to the programme. On behalf of the European Commission, F4E will inject ¤202 million, covering 25% of the construction and commissioning cost of IFMIF-DONES. This investment will boost Europe’s industrial capacities and know-how in key technologies in a strategic sector such as fusion. Spain (55%), Italy (8%), Japan (5%) and Croatia (5%) will also make very significant contributions to the programme.

Marc Lachaise, Director of F4E, said that the agreement “expresses our commitment to continue exploring together the potential of fusion to deliver clean, safe and sustainable energy for future generations. F4E will support DONES in this mission by contributing its expertise to realise part of the project and by offering its extensive experience in international fusion projects.