29 Jan (NucNet): The European Commission (EC) has opened up a network of supercomputers for scientists researching nuclear fusion, which taps energy from reactions like those that heat the sun and could become �a potentially massive� new source of sustainable energy.

Scientists for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) nuclear fusion project will gain dedicated access to the processing power of Europe�s consortium of supercomputing centres: the Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications (DEISA). DEISA currently operates 12 of the world�s 100 most powerful supercomputers
Access to these computers will allow scientists to carry out complex parts of their work, such as simulations of a fusion reactor�s operation, the EC announced on 26 January 2009.

�We expect the new partnership between the supercomputing services of DEISA and the European nuclear fusion community to make an enormous contribution to nuclear fusion�s potential as a viable energy source and power Europe�s role in this quest,� said information society and media commissioner Viviane Reding in a statement. �This shows how pooling its best scientists and infrastructures helps Europe�s scientific community remain at the forefront of global research.�

Controlled nuclear fusion, the process that releases energy in stars and the sun, has the potential to provide a sustainable form of power generation, said the EC. The ITER project, a collaboration between nuclear researchers from the European Union, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Russia and the US, aims to develop the means to build a fusion reactor at Cadarache, in the south of France. Europe is the leading partner in ITER, contributing near half of the total resources both in terms of personnel and funding.

�Large-scale simulations of nuclear fusion and material properties on cutting-edge supercomputers are essential to the operation and design of present and future fusion experiments,� said Professor Frank Jenko from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.

Dr. Hermann Lederer, head of application support at the German Supercomputing Centre RZG, said essential simulations can now be performed �with the full power of modern supercomputers�.

DEISA, which was granted 26 million euro (33 million US dollars) by the EC to use between 2004 and 2011, uses the Géant computer network to distribute and share Europe�s supercomputer processing power. Géant is a European multi-gigabit communications network used exclusively for research and academic purposes.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Partners Launch ITER Project Organisation (News No. 253, 21 November 2006)

China To Contribute USD 1. 4 Billion To ITER (News in Brief No. 3, 8 January 2008)

IAEA And ITER Sign Fusion Cooperation Agreement (News in Brief No. 122, 13 October 2008)

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Source: NucNet

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