¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ

The role of the EUROfusion Consortium and Malta’s participation

On 21 April, at its Valletta Campus, the University of Malta (UM) hosted an information session on the theme ‘The role of the EUROfusion Consortium and Malta’s participation’ aimed at disseminating the research work being done in this area.

At UM this research is spearheaded by Prof. Eur. Ing. Martin Muscat who is head of the Malta EUROfusion Research Unit and lead researcher and by Prof. Eur. Ing. Pierluigi Mollicone, lead researcher and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The information session, which was very well-attended, preceded one of the ’s General Assembly meetings held on 21 and 22 April. The General Assembly, the decision-making body of the consortium is made up of all the Head of research units of 29 EU countries including the Programme Manager Prof. Gianfranco Federici and a number of programme management unit personnel.

The EUROfusion consortium receives funding under the Euratom European Union research and funding programme in order to push forward the design of a nuclear fusion reactor that would have the capability to produce electricity through raising steam to be used within a conventional steam turbine generator system. Currently, work is ongoing on the design of a fusion pilot plant and a fusion power plant.

The fusion power plant will be a prototype nuclear fusion reactor able to produce net electrical energy to the grid. The success of the fusion power plant would mean the promise of an abundant supply of energy with zero greenhouse gas emissions and so would be a very important instrument towards winning the battle against climate change.

In an introductory short video clip, Dr Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, congratulated the UM research unit and the EUROfusion consortium for their work in developing Fusion Energy technology. Dr Metsola highlighted the importance of the EU becoming an energy independent union and the funding of the EUROfusion consortium through Euratom shows the commitment of the EU commission and European Parliament towards this aim.

During the information session, Prof. Martin Muscat and Prof. Pierluigi Mollicone gave an overview of fusion technology research at UM. Both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UM, Professors Muscat and Mollicone spoke about how they got involved in discussions with the EUROfusion consortium and with MCST (now Xjenza Malta) and were successful in getting the University of Malta to be one of the beneficiaries within the EUROfusion consortium.

The EUROfusion project increases our research activities and research potential and widens the scope for further studies for our students and for our local scientific & engineering researchers and doctoral holders… the project boosts Malta’s research workforce and it gives a vision for engineering jobs for prospective STEM students right from primary school. Prof. Muscat

Prof. Mollicone spoke about the events that led to UM joining the EUROfusion consortium under Xjenza Malta's mandate. He highlighted the importance for Malta to participate in these multi-national large scale scientific and technical endeavours, to fulfil UM's research remit. He highlighted how research opportunities in Malta have grown exponentially compared to when he was an undergraduate student. This initiative enabled the creation of MSc and PhD studies in a new and exciting field, and enriches the engineering courses at UM since students are mentored by academics working at the forefront of their research fields.

During the past 5 years the research group established itself in structural integrity assessments in two work packages of the EUROfusion programme - one dealing with the divertor component of the reactor and the other dealing with the overall design of the fusion reactor itself.

Professors Muscat and Mollicone have also launched an MSc and PhD programme in nuclear fusion technology which is a first in the field for the University of Malta.

This research has until now resulted in 6 peer-reviewed international journal publications and a number of presentations and posters in international symposia. The work has also brought to Malta top researchers in the field as part of a work package meeting. Their future plans are to increase the postgraduate student numbers working within UM’s EUROfusion research unit and to continue fostering collaborations with other institutes, universities and other entities working in the same area of structural integrity assessments of fusion reactor components.

The event was addressed by Prof. Frank Bezzina, Rector elect at the University of Malta and Mr Silvio Xerri, CEO of Xjenza Malta.

Through their contribution, the University of Malta has been positioned at the forefront of nuclear fusion research, driving critical advancements in the structural integrity of next-generation reactor components. Their dedication to both technical excellence and the mentorship of postgraduate talent is instrumental in our collective mission for a clean, limitless energy future through the EUROfusion consortium. Prof. Bezzina

At a time when global energy challenges demand bold solutions, Malta is proud to play its part within EUROfusion, contributing to one of the most promising frontiers in clean energy through research, collaboration and long-term vision Mr Scerri

One of the highlights of the information session was the keynote address entitled 'A Nuclear fusion reactor to produce clean electricity – the present and future' by Prof. Gianfranco Federici, followed by a question and answer session. A number of undergraduate and postgraduate Engineering students attended the event and actively participated during the question and answer session.

Europe is defining a credible and attractive plan to deliver fusion and is engaged in the process to identify options to address remaining fusion gaps … Europe should take the lead in developing such an infrastructure. The next few years are crucial for fusion in general and for reshaping EUROfusion. To benefit from new opportunities the EU is working towards the establishment of a private public partnership  while preparing for FP10 with industrial involvement. Prof. Federeci

As research remains one of the pillars at UM, nuclear fusion technology provides an attractive opportunity to apply expertise, advance knowledge, and expose UM engineering students to research performed at the forefront of science and technology in an international context.

¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ on Eurofusion is available .