由中、歐、印、日本、韓國、俄和美合作的國際熱核融合實驗反應爐（ITER）正在逐步進行中，現已完成50％以上。
這座位於法國南部卡達拉什的反應爐，是全球最大的核融合反應爐，2017年開始興建，規劃在2025年12月進行首次電漿測試。屆時反應爐芯將能產生熔化的帶電氣體，稱為電漿或等離子體。氘氚融合實驗則預計於2035年開始。
這座500MW的托卡馬克核融合反應爐，目的在證明核融合成為安全、高產能、環保的大規模無碳能源之可行性。
在6月20日和21日舉行的第22次會議上，理事會共同重申ITER計畫的使命及願景，並評估了最新的製造、興建和安裝進度報告，包括最新的組織和技術績效。理事會也批准了ITER組織提出的興建策略改善項目，以優化托卡馬克綜合大樓中的設備安裝，同時2025年首次電漿測試的時程表維持不變。
理事會同意，真空容器和環形磁場等具有相當技術挑戰性的元件製造取得了實質進展，低溫設備的安裝、現場服務和磁場電源的供應和轉換方面亦然。
根據最新的績效資料，距離首次電漿測試的專案執行進度已超過55％。
總共約1000萬個專業零組件，正在世界各地趕工製造中，最後將送到卡達拉什組裝。歐洲貢獻了一半的建造成本，剩下成本由其他六個成員國均分。建造成本預計約為200億歐元（220億美元），其他部件由ITER成員國以實品形式提供。
全世界最快的超級電腦Summit最近在美國橡樹嶺國家實驗室啟動，將用於加速核融合研究。每秒20萬兆（或每秒200浮點運算）次的計算能力，是橡樹嶺國家實驗室過去紀錄保持者的八倍。
Summit的重量超過商用飛機，也是世界上最大的人工智慧電腦——它的軟體可以寫出新程式。Summit在機器學習、模擬、人工智慧和深度學習方面的能力將協助研究人員加速核融合研究。
在6月會議結束時，ITER理事會表示，「ITER計畫延續其優良的績效和快速的步伐；ITER組織和國內機構繼續扮演整合團隊的角色，以達成具有挑戰性的時程表和嚴苛的技術要求，預測和降低風險，按照計劃進行，往專案成功的目標邁進。」
There may be lingering disagreements among China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, but there is one complex project these seven entities have in common that is on track for success – the world’s largest nuclear fusion facility.
This first global collaboration on building a nuclear fusion reactor is taking place at Cadarache in the south of France.
Construction of the reactor began in 2017 and is now more than 50 percent complete. It is scheduled to achieve first plasma in December 2025. This means that the reactor will be able to generate a molten mass of electrically-charged gas, known as plasma, inside its core.
Deuterium-tritium fusion experiments are scheduled to begin in 2035.
The seven participants in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER, are building the 500 megawatt tokamak fusion device designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy that is safe, abundant and environmentally responsible.
At its 22nd meeting on June 20 and 21, the ITER Council reviewed in detail the latest reports and indicators covering organizational and technical performance.
ITER Council Members jointly reaffirmed the importance of the mission and vision of the project.
The ITER Council evaluated the most recent reports of manufacturing, construction and installation progress for the fusion reactor, including the latest measures of performance.
The Council approved refinements to the construction strategy proposed by the ITER Organization to optimize equipment installation in the Tokamak Complex Building.
With this strategy in place, the project remains on track for first plasma in 2025.
The Council agreed that substantial progress has been made on the fabrication of technologically challenging components such as vacuum vessel sectors and toroidal field magnets, as well as on installation of the cryoplant, site service building and magnet power supply and conversion. Based on the latest performance metrics, project execution to achieve first plasma is over 55 percent complete.
The specialized components – some 10 million parts in total – are being manufactured in industrial facilities all over the world. Then they are sent to the Cadarache worksite to be assembled into the final machine.
Europe is contributing almost half of the costs of construction, while the other six members: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, are contributing equally to the rest.
Construction costs are expected to be around €20 billion (US$22 billion), with components contributed by the ITER members on an “in-kind” basis.
Summit, the world’s fastest supercomputer, recently launched at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States, will be instrumental in accelerating fusion research.
The new supercomputer takes computing powers to new heights. Summit can perform 200,000 trillion calculations per second – or 200 petaflops – that is 200 quadrillion calculations, eight times more than the previous record-holder at the Oak Ridge National Lab, Titan.
The massive machine, weighing more than a commercial aircraft, is also the world’s largest computer equipped with artificial intelligence – a machine whose software will write new software.
Harnessing Summit’s capabilities in machine learning and simulation as well as in artificial intelligence and deep learning will allow researchers to accelerate scientific discovery in nuclear fusion.
At the close of its June meeting, the ITER Council stated, “The ITER Project is sustaining its strong performance and rapid pace; the ITER Organization and Domestic Agencies continue to work as an integrated team to meet the challenging schedule and demanding technical requirements, anticipating and mitigating risks to stay on track for success.”
※ 全文及圖片詳見：ENS
