Two Italians have been appointed to lead Iter, the world's most important experiment in terms of the opportunities it could provide for energy and economic development. ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is an international initiative that aspires to construct a nuclear fusion reactor for research purposes. An international partnership including of the European Union, Russia, China, Japan, the United States of America, India, and South Korea is now building near Cadarache, in the south of France. An experiment that had reached a stalemate following the death of the former general manager, Bernard Bigot, with costs that had increased beyond measure and a series of technical repairs (extremely complex) to which the vacuum vessel's components were to be exposed during assembly. Pietro Barabaschi, now the project's general manager, was asked to fill the role because of his experience with the development of the Jt60, a considerably smaller fusion plant developed (in Japan) specifically to support the Iter. On December 1, the plasma of the JT60 was activated through an impromptu ceremony. Sergio Orlandi, now head of the Iter construction project, combines great knowledge in the field of fission (he has followed the construction of numerous power plants and has even been involved in the monitoring of the Chernobyl sarcophagus) and managerial skills, developed when he was general manager of Ansaldo Nucleare.
|