Building a new pact with Japan.The Broader Approach Agreement starts taking shape!

On 21 May a traditional ground breaking ceremony signalled the beginning of construction of the facilities for the Broader Approach activities in the field of fusion energy at Rokkasho-mura, Japan.

The ceremony was attended by the parties involved, including representatives of JAEA-Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency, policy makers, scientists, local administration and the European Commission.

The construction is expected to be completed by the end of  2009.

What is the Broader Approach?

On February 2007 the EU and the Japanese government signed the “Broader Approach” Agreement, a pact on fusion energy partnership, which lasts for 10 years and represents about €340m of European investment.

It is a cooperation that runs in parallel with the ITER Project and aims to accelerate the realisation of fusion energy by carrying out R&D activities.

The resources for the implementation of Broader Approach mainly consist of in kind and financial contributions from the parties to the Agreement.

The European contributions will be largely provided on a voluntary basis by EU Member States-also possibly Associated States-and channelled through Fusion for Energy.

There are three projects at the core of this agreement:

• The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) that will allow testing and qualification of materials in an environment similar to that of a future fusion power plant.
• The Japan-EU “Satellite” Tokamak Programme which aims to develop operating scenarios and address key physics issues for an efficient start up of ITER and for research towards DEMO.
• The International Fusion Energy Research Centre that has a focus on R&D activities which will facilitate the broad participation of scientists into ITER experiments.