An Italian supermagnet
destined for the ITER experimental fusion reactor in southern
France on Monday left the La Spezia site of ASG Superconductors
for the local port from which it will be shipped to Porto
Marghera near Venice.
Cadarache-based ITER aims to demonstrate the feasibility of
the energy of the future, imitating the processes that happen in
stars.
The giant coil is the fruit of collaboration between Italian
industry, the alternative energy group ENEA and the EU's Fusion
for Energy (F4E) agency.
ASG Superconductors is owned by the Malacalza family.
The company's CEO, Sergio Frattini, said the magnet was proof
of Italian leadership in the sector.
"It's an amazing magnet in terms of size and shows our
leadership in the sector of conductive supermagnets," he said.
F4E magnets chief Alessandro Bonito-Oliva said the
participation in the fusion reactor was "a great opportunity"
for European research and development to create "new, young
technologies".
The new magnet is the biggest ever made in the world.
ITER ("The Way" in Latin) is one of the most ambitious energy
projects in the world today.
In southern France, 35 nations are collaborating to build the
world's largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been
designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and
carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that
powers our Sun and stars.
The experimental campaign that will be carried out at ITER is
crucial to advancing fusion science and preparing the way for
the fusion power plants of tomorrow.
ITER will be the first fusion device to produce net energy
and will be the first fusion device to maintain fusion for long
periods of time.
And ITER will be the first fusion device to test the
integrated technologies, materials, and physics regimes
necessary for the commercial production of fusion-based
electricity.
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