Abstract. As a global facilitator in the nuclear field, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) encourages and assists research on controlled nuclear fusion in its Member States by fostering the exchange of scientific and technical information and promoting the exchange of scientists and experts. Within the Division of Physical and Chemical Sciences the Physics Section and the Nuclear Data Section work specifically on topics related to controlled nuclear fusion and organize conferences, technical meetings and workshops that promote information dissemination, training and education. International research is supported within Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs) and Technical Cooperation Projects, all open to all laboratories in the Member States. The International Fusion Research Council is the body that provides advice to the IAEA on programmatic orientations and activities with the view of promoting international cooperation in plasma physics and controlled nuclear fusion research and its applications.
The IAEA holds one of the world’s leading fusion meetings. The biannual Fusion Energy Conference gathers more than 1000 participants from more than thirty eight countries and accommodates almost 600 scientific contributions covering the newest topics of research. Publication of the results presented is done in cooperation with the Nuclear Fusion Journal jointly published by the IAEA and IOPP.
The IAEA Technical Meetings (TMs) are organised by the Agency and partly hosted by Member States to provide an opportunity for discussion on major concepts of fusion such as magnetic, inertial and pinch, and such as, for instance, steady state operation and burning plasma physics. A particular effort is put in the activities accompanying magnetic confinement research where the IAEA TMs bring together specialists to address specific issues that have a major impact on the success of fusion. Emphasis is put on topics with direct relevance to the effective use of fusion as a future energy option, e.g., fuelling and heating systems, steady state operation, fusion materials development, turbulence and transport, confinement and stability, plasma disruptions, safety and ITER activities.
The IAEA also plays a direct role in organising research activities on fusion. The CRPs are networks of laboratories in the Member States supported by the IAEA. Under a CRP, several research projects are implemented aiming at enhancing the scientific knowledge on various topics on fusion. This common umbrella provides an opportunity for the participating countries to better coordinate their research, facilitates technology transfer and international collaboration.
An overview of recent IAEA’s activities on supporting inertial and magnetic confinement research will be given in this presentation. The specific objectives of coordinated research projects on fusion will be presented and major scientific outcomes discussed.