Status of IFMIF Design and R&D

The design of a fusion reactor by magnetic confinement requires three main categories of knowledge: the understanding of the physics of a burning plasma (i.e. a plasma where the energy produced by the fusion reactions becomes predominant) and its interaction with the components facing it, all technologies specific to fusion (superconducting magnets, very high flux components, remote handling, tritium cycle) and the knowledge of the materials submitted to an intense neutron flux. International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) will be dedicated to the last challenge. Its Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities are now starting in the framework of an international agreement between Japan and the European Union called “Broader Approach”.