EU provides funding for fusion materials testing facility
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The contribution was approved during a meeting held on 10–11 July at Fusion for Energy's (F4E's) headquarters in Barcelona. It was conditional on Spain securing full funding for the construction of the facility, along with the establishment of an appropriate legal framework.
Both conditions have now been met, following confirmed participation by Croatia, Japan, and Italy, and the drafting of an agreement to regulate cooperation between the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the IFMIF-DONES Spain Consortium, the European Commission, F4E, and other potential international partners.
Spain has already committed to provide 55% of the cost of IFMIF-DONES while Croatia will provide 5%, with Italy and Japan committed but still defining their shares.
The level of neutron irradiation planned for demonstration fusion power plants (DEMOs) has never been tested. In order to build DEMOs out of materials that can withstand such harsh bombardment, developers are looking to neutron sources as a way to mimic fusion conditions for materials testing.
The IFMIF-DONES (which stands for International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility – DEMO-Oriented Neutron Source) materials testing facility will simulate demonstration fusion power plant-like conditions for potential structural materials. It will use a particle accelerator to produce a continuous-wave deuteron (D+) beam aimed at a target made of a liquid lithium curtain. The interaction between deuterium and lithium will generate enough free neutrons to simulate the planned neutron flux over time of Europe's DEMO, which is being designed by the DEMO Central Team at EUROfusion. Directly behind the lithium target will be the high-flux test module, which will house capsules of material samples for neutron irradiance testing.
The facility will produce a 125 mA deuteron beam, accelerated up to 40 MeV and shaped to have a nominal cross section in the range from 100 mm x 50 mm to 200 mm x 50 mm, impinging on a liquid lithium target 25 mm thick cross‐flowing at about 15 m/s in front of it.
The mission of the programme is to develop a database of fusion‐like neutron irradiation effects in the materials required for the construction of demonstration fusion power plants for benchmarking of radiation response of materials.
The IFMIF-DONES particle accelerator will generate unique experimental data that will also benefit other areas of science and technology, including medicine, nuclear physics, and various industrial applications.
The project is being implemented by the IFMIF-DONES Spain Consortium, established in 2021 through an agreement between the Government of Spain and the Regional Government of Andalusia, and attached to Spain's General State Administration.
"The approval of the European contribution to IFMIF-DONES sends a clear message: Europe is committed to harnessing the potential of fusion energy through the teams of F4E and aspires to be a leader," said F4E Director Marc Lachaise. "IFMIF DONES is now officially part of the European fusion roadmap. With this investment, F4E will involve European industry, SMEs, and R&D organisations through various contracts. IFMIF-DONES tackles a strategic technology in the field of energy and the EU has reaffirmed its support."
Spain's Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, added: "We are taking firm steps in a strategic project that, with the support of the European Commission, addresses the global challenge of overcoming the energy crisis and places Spain at the forefront of fusion energy research."
The political commitment to the programme from the EU and the member countries was captured last May in the symbolic laying of the first stone.
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