European Fusion Tech Transfer Marketplace
Discover the technologies generated by today’s greatest technological challenge
With this new space we seek to promote the technologies developed by the European Fusion (EUROfusion) and Fusion for Energy (F4E) laboratories, making them widely available and commercially viable for the industry.
Fusion is the process that produces energy in stars, like our Sun.
Under specific conditions, the nuclei of light atoms collide and fuse to produce the nuclei of heavier atoms, releasing large amounts of energy in the process. This is the essence of fusion.
Because energy is derived from the action of nuclei, fusion is a form of nuclear energy, which is why it is called nuclear fusion. However, it should not be confused with another technology used in nuclear power plants for decades: nuclear fission. In fission, the process is the opposite: it is generated when the nuclei of heavy atoms split into lighter ones.
Want to learn more?
We’ve prepared this YouTube playlist for you to delve deeper into this topic:
Unlike nuclear fission, the nuclear fusion reaction is inherently safe.
The reasons that have made fusion so difficult to achieve to date are the same ones that make it safe. It is a finely balanced reaction that is very sensitive to conditions: the reaction will die if the plasma is too cold or too hot, or if there is too much or not enough fuel, or too many contaminants, or if the magnetic fields are not configured correctly to control the turbulence of the hot plasma.
This is why fusion is still in the research and development phase, and fission, for example, is already producing electricity.
Our current energy landscape relies heavily on rapidly depleting fossil fuels, as 80% of the world’s energy consumption is based on fossil fuels. Changing this dependence is critical to meeting growing energy demand and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Fusion has the potential to be a nearly unlimited, safe, and CO2-free source of energy.
On the Sun, the fusion process is driven by the Sun’s immense gravitational pull and high temperatures. But here on Earth, we need a different approach to achieving fusion reactions, as we do not yet have the immense gravitational pull required to reproduce this process industrially.
On 9 October 2014, fusion research organisations from the European Union and Switzerland signed an agreement to cement European collaboration in fusion research. The European Consortium for the Development of Fusion Energy, EUROfusion, was born.
Currently, 30 institutions are working on the development of promising projects in this field, such as ITER (International Tokamak Experimental Reactor), the first commercially oriented nuclear fusion reactor, or DEMO, the future fusion power plant.
What is FUTTA?
FUTTA is the acronym for Fusion Technology Transfer Activities, a technology transfer project launched by EUROfusion in 2014 in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). This first phase generated more than 20 fusion technology descriptions, three success stories, and prospects for the development of a broader EUROfusion Technology Transfer Program. The success of the second phase has led to the renewal of this program from 2022 to the end of 2025.
Efforts to develop a method for producing usable energy from the nuclear fusion process require the intervention of various scientific fields: physics, materials science, high-precision engineering, robotics, and computing and simulation…
A multitude of experts are generating solutions that advance progress toward the ultimate goal, but that can also be very useful in other, more or less unsuspected, sectors.
Who makes up the FUTTA III network?
Following the success of FUTTA II and the new Euratom Framework, technology transfer activities will continue for four years, from 2022 to the end of 2025, with a similar scope and tools. As part of efforts to promote the use of EUROfusion technologies and knowledge, a new call for technology transfer proposals has been launched to identify and eliminate technical risk for new non-fusion applications and develop demonstration projects.
This new phase involves seven renowned technology brokers from six European countries. In addition to Knowledge Innovation Market (KIM), the following are participating in FUTTA III:
What are we looking for?
- Identify technologies and solutions developed within the framework of nuclear fusion in Spain.
- Identify needs and potential problems in different industrial sectors, not exclusively in the field of nuclear fusion.
- Technology transfer. Promote the resolution of industrial problems with solutions generated within the framework of nuclear fusion research, facilitating access to these solutions from Spanish organizations.
- Facilitate access to and support for funding programs, calls for proposals, and grants launched by EUROfusion.
- Promote, disseminate, and disseminate nuclear fusion, highlighting its advantages and opportunities compared to currently available energy sources and success stories in technology transfer processes to sectors not directly connected to nuclear fusion.
What do we offer?
- Disseminate and promote the identified technologies and solutions (EU)
- Provide access to the technological offering and knowledge developed for Nuclear Fusion through EUROfusion
- Identify opportunities and new markets for innovations
- Mediate and provide support throughout the process
- Solve industry problems and potential sectors (EU)
- Detect and provide advice to new innovative businesses
Areas of application
Health
Magnetism
Superconducting magnets, which are designed to control nuclear fusion reactions, are also used in magnetic resonance imaging, a widely used technique in medicine.
Superconductivity
Conductive materials
From energy, transportation, electronics, to medicine, superconducting materials have experienced tremendous development. But what has enabled these advances in superconductivity technology?
Fusion!
Telecommunications
New signal frequencies
Utilization of new signal frequencies. Work on gyrotrons, powerful instruments for raising plasma temperatures, led to the creation of the Swiss company SWISSto12, to exploit terahertz frequency signals.
Environment
Industrial waste
Waste from high-tech experiments also requires advanced technology for disposal.
Membranes made of a palladium alloy, invented to clean up fusion waste, are effective in treating waste from the chemical and automotive industries.
Theoretical physics
The interdisciplinary nature of nuclear fusion research involves a continuous exchange of ideas from different domains of theoretical physics: plasma physics, fluid dynamics, astrophysics, turbulence analysis, to name just a few.
Materials science
A clear example is a technique that allows metal sheets to be converted into different shapes, manufactured by 3D Metal Forming. This technology has been widely used for devices in the European Nuclear Fusion Program. It has subsequently expanded its field of application to include other sectors, such as the aeronautical industry.
Remote control
Remote control techniques used in the EUROfusion JET Tokamak are being applied in high-energy physics, space sciences, nuclear material dismantling, and current surgical practices.
Open Call 2025
News
Online Workshop on Sensor Technologies, Characterization, and Diagnostics
A workshop to address the potential for technology transfer through the case of Sensor, Characterization, and Diagnostic Technologies.
Online Workshop – Advanced tungsten manufacturing for fusion and beyond
The potential for technology transfer will be addressed through the case of advanced tungsten manufacturing.
It is aimed at tungsten manufacturers, end-users, or companies facing significant challenges in harsh environments.
It may also be of interest to experts in new materials and production systems.
New Demonstrator Call for Fusion-Derived Technologies
Call to support the transfer of EUROfusion-related technologies and knowledge to non-fusion applications (spin-out).
Webinars
FUTTA Webinar | New Demonstrator Call for Fusion-Derived Technologies
FUTTA Webinar | Demonstrator Call – Successes in applying technologies to other sectors
Success stories
Fusion in the space sector
Connecting dissimilar materials through advanced welding developed for fusion
Ptolemy is an instrument onboard Rosetta’s Philae lander. It consists of a miniature gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer designed to determine the comet’s composition. To do so, the comet’s ice must be converted into gas and pass through the components.
The entire piping system and connecting mechanisms were designed and manufactured using techniques developed in fusion research. The know-how and techniques developed by the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy’s “Special Techniques” group allowed many different materials to be connected using advanced welding, as they must withstand wide temperature variations throughout the mission.
Ion beam analysis for Hubble
IBA Datafurnace is a software program used to analyze the results of ion beam analysis. This technique is often used within the fusion community to examine wall tiles from inside the tokamak to see what plasma deposits have accumulated.
It was later used to investigate the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 from the Hubble Space Telescope after it was returned to Earth in 2009. Analysis showed that a variety of different elements had accumulated on the camera’s outer casing due to the impact of interstellar matter. This is a very rare opportunity, as it’s not common for satellites to be returned to Earth after prolonged exposure to a space environment.
Fusion in solar energy
Smart self-passivating alloys designed to coat the interior of fusion reactors
Tungsten is the material typically used as the inner shell of a fusion reactor. However, a failure in the reactor’s cooling system could lead to high temperatures in this shell. If this failure were combined with an air ingress, it could lead to the formation of WO3 (tungsten trioxide) gas. Because the tungsten has been activated by neutron absorption, the resulting gas is also radioactive, meaning any leak would be dangerous to the surrounding environment.
Tungsten is the material typically used as the inner shell of a fusion reactor. A failure in the reactor’s cooling system could lead to high temperatures in this shell. If this failure were combined with an air ingress, it could lead to the formation of WO3 (tungsten trioxide) gas. Because the tungsten has been activated by neutron absorption, the resulting gas is also radioactive, meaning any leak would be hazardous to the surrounding environment.
One of Forschungszentrum Jülich’s key technologies is the development and characterization of self-passivating smart alloys that prevent the generation of WO3 in the event of such accidents. This know-how can be used to produce other smart alloys that could be suitable for improving the durability of receivers in solar thermal power plants.
Pere Galimany · Project Manager |
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The introduction video is owned by EUROfusion and is available in full at:: https://youtu.be/sidQpg3eCRc
