Japanese perspective of fusion nuclear technology from ITER to DEMO

Abstract The world fusion community is now launching the construction of ITER, the first nuclear-grade fusion machine in the world. In parallel with the ITER Program, Broader Approach (BA) activities also started this year with the collaboration of Japan and EURATOM, mainly at the Rokkasho BA site in Japan, as complementary activities toward DEMO. The Atomic Energy Commission of Japan reviewed the ongoing ‘Third Phase Basic Program of Fusion Research and Development’, and then issued the results of the review, ‘National Policy of Future Fusion Research and Development’, in November 2005. In this report, it was anticipated that ITER will be made operational in a decade and that its programmatic objective can be met in the following seven or eight years. Under this assumption, the report presented a road map toward DEMO and beyond and identified R&D items in fusion nuclear technology that are indispensable for fusion energy utilization. In the present paper, Japanese view and policy on fusion nuclear technology in ITER and beyond will be summarized, and an overview is given of a minimum set of R&D items in fusion nuclear technology toward DEMO that are essential for fusion energy utilization.