ITER: Euratom/Japan agreement on nuclear fusion

KEY POINTS

Activities

The broader approach activities refer to 3 research projects developed in Japan:

• the project completing the design of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF/EVEDA), for the testing and qualification of advanced materials in environment conditions comparable to those of a fusion power reactor;
• the Satellite Tokamak programme, to develop operating scenarios for the ITER and DEMO projects;
• the project relating to the International Fusion Energy Research Centre, a body responsible for coordinating the DEMO design R & D, large-scale simulation of plasmas to produce fusion power by supercomputers and remote experimentation to facilitate broad participation by scientists in the experiments conducted under ITER.

Structure

The management structure for these broader approach activities comprises:

• the steering committee;
• the secretariat;
• the project committee(s);
• the project leader(s) and project team(s);
• the implementing agencies.

Implementing instruments

• The project plan (covering the duration of the project), which is submitted to the steering committee for approval no later than 31 March each year by each project leader after consulting the project committee, comprises:
  • a description of all the planned activities;
  • a detailed schedule of the main stages of implementation;
  • an overview of the contributions made and to be made.
• After consulting the project committee, each project leader, no later than 31 October each year, submits a work programme for the following year to the steering committee for approval, containing:
  • the points of the corresponding project plan;
  • programming specifications for the activities to be carried out (objectives, planning, current expenditure, contributions expected from each party, etc.).
• Each project leader submits an annual report to the steering committee for approval (no later than 31 March of each year). This document is then forwarded to the parties and the implementing agencies.
• Each party is entitled to carry out a financial audit at any time during this agreement and for up to 5 years following its termination.

Resources

• The resources for the implementation of the broader approach activities may be:
  • contributions in kind;
  • specific components, equipment and materials, as well as goods and services;
  • the experts made available to the project teams;
  • the personnel made available to the various management bodies;
  • financial contributions.
• The EU contribution, which mainly takes the form of contributions in kind, amounts to approximately €340 million.

In March 2020, Euratom and Japan signed a joint declaration reaffirming that, as of 2020, the broader approach is to focus on operating and exploiting the facilities that have already been set up, for the benefit of both parties. As ITER is approaching its own First Plasma and the beginning of its operation, teams working on the broader approach will work more closely with ITER to ensure that it moves forward as smoothly as possible.

Intellectual property (IP)

• The agreement defines IP as provided in Article 2 of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Convention of 14 July 1967.
• Project leaders have a duty to inform the steering committee of any potential protectable IP that is created and recommend the jurisdiction where such protection should be obtained.
• The parties should:
  • support the widest possible dissemination of information resulting from the implementation of the agreement;
  • ensure that information created by project teams and implementing agencies is made freely available to each of the parties for use in the research and development of fusion energy;
  • have a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty-free licence in all countries to translate, reproduce and publicly distribute scientific and technical publications directly arising from the implementation;
  • ensure proper and free exchange of information needed to accomplish the tasks of the project teams and that information marked as confidential is disseminated according to the confidentiality rules. The rights and titles to IP created by implementing agency staff would belong to the agency concerned.