NEURON-DONES

safe, sustainable and large-scale fusion energy

Fusion energy is a safe, sustainable and large-scale energy source, based on an inexhaustible fuel distributed across the planet, which could complete the energy mix in the second half of this century. This objective will be realised through the future European demonstration power plant, DEMO (DEMOnstration power plant). To achieve this, DEMO must build on all the know-how acquired in ITER and the Fusion Programme, but it also requires testing of the most critical materials in its internal structure. Within the Fusion Programme, IFMIF-DONES is the Large Scientific Infrastructure that most closely resembles a fusion power plant. However, it has not yet addressed the challenge of moving towards a higher level of industrialisation from an experimental, state-of-the-art system composed of prototypes, which requires continuous updates and improvements to evolve into a stable, industrialised system.

Challenges

Ensuring deterministic communications with ultra-low latency and critical traffic integrity

Achieving a significant reduction in energy consumption through the integration of hydrogen technologies, renewables and intelligent management

Significantly improving monitoring and analysis capabilities for critical processes

Solution

Industrial research into critical technologies for the operation and maintenance of large scientific facilities, applied to IFMIF-DONES, to advance towards fusion.

Specifically, the developed infrastructure focuses on four fundamental aspects for its industrialisation:

On the one hand, the infrastructure advances Sustainability, while also progressing in the most innovative aspects of Security.
On the other hand, it leverages artificial intelligence to ensure Intelligent Operations Management, enabling rapid system evolution and operational planning until stable operation is achieved.
Finally, to accomplish all this, it is necessary to Optimise Data Flow, a key enabler of intelligence.