DiSAT Seminars 2026 - Seminar "Status of the ITER Project and Lessons Learned "
DiSAT is launching a new series of monthly departmental seminars, designed as an open forum to share and discuss the diverse research interests across the Department.
We are happy to announce the fourth event in the series, scheduled for May the 13th at 2:00 p.m. in Sala Denina
The seminar, titled “Status of the ITER Project and Lessons Learned ,” will be presented by Dr. Mario Merola, Deputy Head of Department Engineering Services Department, ITER Organization, who has been invited by Milena Salvo.
ITER is an unprecedented international collaboration designed to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power for peaceful use. Its mission is to achieve 500 MW of fusion power with a gain of Q = 10, bridging the scientific and technological gap between experimental devices and future fusion power plants.
The talk explains the revised ITER baseline strategy, introduced to reduce technical, licensing, and schedule risks while enabling the earliest possible start of the nuclear phase. A phased approach to DT operation (DT‑1 and DT‑2) supports stepwise safety demonstration.
Key technical decisions include replacing beryllium with tungsten as plasma-facing material, adapting the plasma heating strategy, and introducing boronization. The status of major ITER machine components and assembly progress is reviewed, along with first‑of‑a‑kind challenges and lessons learned. The presentation concludes that ITER is progressing according to the new baseline and remains a cornerstone for demonstrating fusion energy for future generations.
Each seminar will be preceded by a coffee break to encourage networking among colleagues.
Attendance by PhD students will count toward their training credits.
All colleagues and students are warmly invited to join.
Commissione Research DiSAT
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