News and Events

NCPST Scientist moves to ITER

Dr Deirdre Boilson, Programme Manager at the National Centre for Plasma Sciene & Technology, host to the Association Euratom-DCU, is to move to ITER in January 2010 in a new position as a Neutral Beam Scientist.  She will be in charge of the coordination of the Heating Neutral Beam Injector for ITER.  She will be the first scientist from the Irish Association to be based at ITER.

ITER is an international project to design and build an experimental fusion reactor.  It is currently under construction in the South of France, at Cadarache and aims to demonstrate that fusion power is economically viable as an energy source.

The timescale for this project is to start operation in 2018.  Once the objectives of ITER have been achieved, it is foreseen that the use of fusion energy will be a reality by the middle of the century.