ITER, the way to fusion energy
Antonio Masiello, Fusion for Energy, Spain
Monday 1st July 2024
ICMAB -Sala d'Actes Carles Miravitlles
ONLINE (Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_knlaXtzEQIKha2JG6RVTDQ)
Abstract
ITER ("The Way" in Latin) is one of the most ambitious engineering projects in the world today. The primary objective of ITER is the investigation and demonstration of burning plasmas to produce energy from nuclear fusion. 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.
The talk is focused on an overall description of the principle of nuclear fusion and of the ITER experiment. Details about the status, on-going activities and plans for the future will be given together with a description of the role of Fusion for Energy, based in Barcelona, as the European Agency for ITER.
Short bio
Antonio Masiello studied in Italy at the University of Padua, where he received his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1994. At the same university, activities on a fusion experiment were being carried out and it is in this environment that he developed his passion for Nuclear Fusion.
He attended a Master’s program in Plasma Physics, followed by a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He started his professional career at the research center of Padua on nuclear fusion (Consorzio RFX) in 1997, in the role of Project Engineer. Before this, he spent six months at the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan, supporting the local team in the setup of their experiment TPE-RX.
At Consorzio RFX, he was responsible for many of the auxiliary systems and served as Engineer in charge of experimental sessions on the RFX machine. Alongside his research activities, he was also a professor at the University of Cagliari, teaching the course Numerical Methods for the solution of electrical circuits and electromagnetic fields problems.
In 2001, he spent one year as visiting scientist at the JET experiment in Culham, UK (near Oxford). In 2003, he continued his research activities at Consorzio RFX, becoming responsible of activities for the development of the international experiment ITER. That same year, he began collaborating with the French institution CEA-Cadarache in France on revising the design of the ITER Neutral Beam (NB) Injector.
In 2007, he moved to Garching, Germany, where he was hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and coordinated European activities for the development of the ITER NB system. Since 2008, he has been working with the European Agency for the contribution to the ITER experiment, first as Project Manager and more recently as the Technical Coordinator of the NB system.
Antonio, 55 years old, has always worked in the field of Nuclear Fusion research, mainly in the construction of components and infrastructures for the development of experiments to make progress on the development of the nuclear fusion as a viable source of energy.
