Czech scientist leads European consortium to secure fusion energy

Radomír Pánek, director of the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, has led the European scientific consortium EUROfusion since the beginning of January. The consortium coordinates an international research programme aimed at securing a safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly source of energy from nuclear fusion in Europe. The Czech scientist was elected chair of the consortium’s General Assembly in December, Martina Spěváčková of the Academy of Sciences told the ČTK news agency today.

The EUROfusion consortium brings together nearly 5000 scientists from 193 European scientific institutions, universities and companies working to secure energy through thermonuclear fusion. It manages a budget of nearly one billion euros provided by the European Commission and member states.

„This prestigious position represents a unique opportunity for me to help lead one of humanity’s key scientific programmes, but it is also a major challenge in terms of coordinating a very large international research programme. In any case, I am convinced that my election to this position also reflects the high level of fusion research we have achieved in Czechia over the past 15 years,“ Pánek said.

In thermonuclear fusion, light atoms, such as hydrogen, are combined at extremely high temperatures to form the nuclei of heavier elements such as helium. This releases enormous amounts of energy. Fusion experiments are carried out in devices called tokamaks. The first fusion power plants are also expected to use this principle.

Developing a fusion power plant is crucial, according to Pánek, because it will provide an inexhaustible, completely safe, almost emissions-free and highly powerful source of energy. „Fusion energy offers a solution to many problems associated with traditional methods of energy production and will play a key role in humanity’s sustainable and secure energy future,“ Pánek added.

Pánek is a leading expert in fusion physics and technology research. At the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which he has headed since 2015, he led the project to install the COMPASS tokamak and is currently leading the project to build the new COMPASS Upgrade tokamak.

In 2020, Radomír Pánek became vice-chair of the governing board of the European agency Fusion for Energy (F4E). The Barcelona-based organisation is responsible for delivering Europe’s contribution to the ITER tokamak, an international thermonuclear experimental reactor at the Cadarache research centre in France.