Global issues

Hirschi Horace                        GLOBAL ISSUES                                                 Notes

1) Research themes/ideas :

. UK related physics projects

2) Further research :

. The ITER project : → International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

- nuclear fusion research project based on an international cooperation between 35 nations (EU through Euratom, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, US...)

- world's largest and most complex nuclear experiment

- create a long-term sustainable energy imitating a nuclear reaction (fusion) we can observe in the stars and our Sun's core

- achieve the most advanced machine in the world (the ITER Tokamak, assembled in southern France)

= https://www.iter.org/

. UK participation :

- UK contributes to the ITER project through Euratom as a member for Fusion for Energy

- involved through intellectual and financial support

- gets access to the shared science knowledge between the project's parties

. Post-Brexit uncertainty : 

- UK left Euratom as it is undirectly linked to the EU when Brexit was decided

- proceeded to find an agreement with the F4E (Fusion for Energy-Euratom) to pursue collaboration as a third partie

= https://fusionforenergy.europa.eu/news/post-brexit-a-new-beginning-for-the-united-kingdom/

   https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nuclear-research-from-1-january-2021

   https://www.iter.org/newsline/-/3551

3) Questions I would like to ask an expert :

• How does the UK benefit from an ITER cooperation ?
• What are the detailed contributions of the UK in the project ?
• For how long is the collaboration supposed to go ?
• How many british scientists and engineers take part in the project ?

4) Narrowing things down :

> How does the UK participate in the ITER project ?

> How dit the Brexit affect the UK's international scientific collaborations ?

...