Ministers from different countries gathered in Rome for the first World Fusion Energy Group Meeting. ©IAEA
The global race to harness fusion as a clean and safe energy source is gaining momentum. As fusion science and technology break new ground, public and private efforts towards commercialisation are ramping up.
In this context, Italy – the current G7 presidency – hosted the inaugural ministerial meeting of the World Fusion Energy Group (WFEG), an initiative by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The European Commission, F4E and ITER Organization attended the event in Rome with representatives frominternational governments as well as private companies, industry, research and other stakeholders.
The IAEA established the group last year with the aim of forming “a cohesive and inclusive platform” to “accelerate the research, development, demonstration and deployment of fusion energy through international cooperation”.
During the meeting, high-level politicians from dozens of countries expressed unanimous support for fusion as a pivotal future option for a sustainable energy mix. EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, offered an opening address: “Europe wants to be a global leader in fusion energy development. We are contributing to advancing nuclear fusion, mainly through ITER, the world’s most ambitious international fusion research project.” She added that “international collaboration will be key to commercialising fusion energy, and the IAEA’s World Fusion Energy Group is a step in the right direction.”
Later, delegates from public and private fusion initiatives discussed in different roundtables. The talks focused on public private partnerships, commercialisation strategies or policy frameworks, among other topics.
In parallel, the IAEA announced the publication of two reports: the IAEA World Fusion Outlook 2024, an overview of the state of play of fusion development worldwide, and Fusion Key Elements, a summary of the main factors on the way towards fusion.
The meeting was also a follow-up to the G7 June summit, in which global leaders issued a communiqué including fusion energy as a priority area of collaboration.
You can watch the recording of the WFEG meeting here.
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