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Fusion research aims at providing mankind with an abundant,
safe and environmentally friendly energy source for the future - an increasingly
important area of R&D in light of global concerns over global warming and
climate change.
In order to harness the power released from the fusion of light nuclei (the
process powering the Sun), so-called 'tokamak' experiments utilise powerful
magnetic fields and electrical currents to heat and confine a very hot gas (or
plasma) at temperatures approaching 200 million degrees C. The JET tokamak based
at Culham Science Centre in the UK is the centrepiece of the European fusion
research programme - attaining plasma conditions sufficient for fusion to occur.
Work on JET - supported by many other fusion experiments around Europe - has
proved invaluable in the design of the next step international device, ITER -
which will produce significant fusion power (500MW) on the scale of a powerplant.
The European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) was established in 1999 as a
framework between Euratom and associated fusion research programmes in most EU
countries with the aim of strengthening co-ordination and collaboration. The
EFDA associated organisations are in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
the United Kingdom.
In particular, EFDA provides the framework for :