In the south of France, 35 countries are collaborating to build a large research laboratory that demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining energy through nuclear fusion by magnetic confinement.
90% of ITER’s construction costs are met through in-kind contributions from different partners. Each of them houses a Domestic Agency, responsible for the management of these contributions. The Agency that manages the European partner’s supplies is called the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy, which rotates in legal traffic under the name of Fusion for Energy (F4E) and is based in Spain (Barcelona).
CIEMAT, together with other institutions and universities (UPM, UPC, UNED, UPV, CELLS-ALBA, URL, UNIOVI, ESS-B), participates in various developments of components and systems for ITER: fuel regenerative modules, temperature increase systems, measurement systems, internal components, control and data acquisition.The proportion of Spanish staff in F4E is 25% of the total. The Spaniard who holds the most hierarchically prominent position is the head of the Budgetary and Financial Unit. The chairmanship of the Technical Advisory Council and the vice-chairmanship of the Governing Council are currently held by Joaquín Sánchez Sanz, director of the National Fusion Laboratory of CIEMAT.