Since its infancy, fusion research has been advanced through peaceful international coordination, and today broad-ranging research is conducted in many countries around the world. Further academic research and development toward making fusion reactors a reality requires the promotion of joint research programs based on a long-term outlook that brings together the knowledge of researchers not just in Japan, but from around the world. NIFS plays the role of an organization representing Japan in the international coordination of fusion research. Along with this, we are actively advancing joint research and exchange among researchers through international coordination. Regarding the ITER Project and the Broader Approach (BA), global projects that are currently in progress, we are cooperating in various ways, such as by contributing to the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA), by sending experts, and by providing several technologically advanced devices conducive to further development.

国際連携1

Examples of International Coordination

The IEA Stellarator-Heliotron Cooperation

International Stellarator-Heliotron Confinement and Profile Database Activity

Extensive multi-national and multi-institutional coordinated research among Stellarator-Heliotron (S-H) devices has been promoted under the auspices of the IEA (International Energy Agency) Stellarator-Heliotron Technology Cooperation Program.
Contracting parties are Australia, EURATOM, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, and the USA (in alphabetical order). Among them, Japan, through the Director General of the National Institute for Fusion Science, is performing leadership responsibilities as vice-chair. The scaling law for the energy confinement time, the so-called ISS04, was successfully derived based on the extended S-H confinement database. Toward deepening physics understanding and increasing the predictive capability, the profile database activity has been steadily expanded with the participation of multiple institutions.

国際連携2

The IEA PWI Technology Cooperation Program (TCP)　

International collaboration using the world’s linear plasma experimental devices

The Plasma-Wall Interaction (PWI) TCP is a multilateral agreement involving Japan, Europe, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In Japan, NIFS serves as the implementing organization. Under this agreement, researchers from NIFS and universities, as well as students who are future researchers, are conducting international collaborative research at institutions around the world on the interactions between plasma and material walls. These collaborations mainly involve experiments using linear plasma devices and computational simulations. Significant achievements have been made in various areas, including studies on the effects of plasma irradiation on fusion reactor wall materials through surface analysis, research on plasma behavior in the peripheral regions of fusion cores, and the development of plasma diagnostic techniques.