The consortium will serve as a forum where physics and engineering researchers can come together to work on research and development for nuclear fusion.
DANfusion is one of a number of research centres funded by Denmark’s ministry of higher education and science. The centres exist to strengthen and grow national academic communities connected to European big science facilities.
With DANfusion, there are now four Danish centres linked to groups and projects such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, the consortium of fusion research institutes Eurofusion and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as Cern.
In addition to the Technical University of Denmark, which is already Denmark’s member of Eurofusion, DANfusion includes research groups from Aarhus University, Aalborg University and the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.
DANfusion will use the €40,000 grant to allow researchers to travel to national and international fusion experiments. The grant will also facilitate domestic meetings and will allow PhD students to join fusion-relevant summer schools.
Nuclear fusion replicates the reactions that power the sun and scientists want to use it to generate energy on a commercial scale.
Denmark has never had a commercial nuclear power plant and has laws in place to prevent the production of energy from reactors. It has three research reactors, two of which have been decommissioned and one of which is undergoing decommissioning.