The energy from nuclear fusion in the post Covid 19 Europe sustainable solutions package? It is something more than a hypothesis now, and a lot different from traditional nuclear power plants. By a singular coincidence, in the difficult weeks of the pandemic, Italy, Japan, the United States, Russia, China, India and South Korea increased jobs at the Cadarache shipyard in France for fusion. There was no lockdown in the Provence area. And proof of this is the fact that he has arrived at his destination the first giant superconducting magnet. So the experimentation continues.
After a long journey, the first machine needed was delivered to the Iter project (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) to have energy available through nuclear fusion. To understand each other, the replica on earth of what happens in the sun and in the other stars. A job that in Cadarache is worth 20 billion euros to have energy without impact on the atmosphere, as other sophisticated equipment is installed to reach a temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius.
The first super magnet is all Italian, of Asg Superconductors of La Spezia, which was awarded the order from the Fusion for Energy (F4E) consortium. Ansaldo Nucleare and Enea are also participating in the works, which involve the delivery of other materials through the ICAS consortium. “We won a 50 million euro international tender and also a 5 million euro contract with Cern,” says Antonio della Corte, president of the consortium and manager of Enea. The international partnership has primary strategic value for Europe, which is walking through ups and downs towards the energy transition.
In the French shipyard more than 2 thousand people work. They follow a work plan that provides the commissioning of the machines in 2025 and the first nuclear fusion reaction in 2035. Two dates which, if respected - but in the energy field nothing is certain - would be compatible with the green deal programs of the European Commission, even if not revised after the Covid 19 epidemic.
“Despite the very difficult economic situation, the Iter construction site has never stopped and the staff has even been increased”, explains Sergio Orlandi, the Italian engineer who supervises the construction of the plant. The Iter projet has entrusted to Italian specialized firms orders worth over 1,3 billion euro.
If the future is clean energy that cannot be exhausted, the experimentation underway in France must continue without hesitation. It is time to remember it. Because the initiative – unique in the history of humanity – can be to the detriment of leaders like Donald Trump, who is financing it, but who really doesn't get along with the green economy.
