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Europe is gearing up to lead the next energy revolution through nuclear fusion, driven by two major projects: ITER and IFMIF-DONES. ITER, located in Cadarache, France, is the world’s largest international nuclear fusion experiment, involving 35 countries including all EU members. Funded by seven global powers, ITER aims to replicate the Sun’s energy processes and serves as a key catalyst for European industry. Since 2007, the Fusion for Energy Agency (F4E) has directed around €4 billion in contracts to over 440 European companies, generating significant economic impact and tens of thousands of jobs, particularly benefiting Spanish firms. Over 1,000 professionals are currently engaged in ITER’s construction and operation.
Meanwhile, IFMIF-DONES, under construction near Granada, Spain, is a specialized facility for testing materials that can withstand intense radiation in future fusion reactors. With an investment of around €800 million, partially funded by Spain and the EU, this project is expected to create up to 11,000 local jobs over four decades and integrate 200 scientists and engineers soon. Both projects foster advanced technologies such as robotics, cryogenics, and digital training, stimulating the growth of high-tech ecosystems and startups. Together, ITER and IFMIF-DONES not only advance fusion science but also strengthen Europe’s industrial capacity, human talent, and regional development, positioning the continent as a future leader in nuclear fusion technology and energy innovation by 2050.
We discover the cutting-edge scientific infrastructures that position Europe in the race for the energy of the future.
From the south of France to Grenada, Europe is preparing to lead the next energy revolution: nuclear fusion. Large projects such as ITER and IFMIF-DONES not only promise scientific advances, but also to be an unprecedented industrial lever. A crucial role in this is played by the ESFRI – the European strategic forum that defines which large-scale scientific infrastructures should be developed in the European Union – and the Fusion for Energy Agency (F4E), which, with a workforce of around 446 employees in Barcelona – and offices in France and Germany – channels technology contracts worth billions of euros to European industry.
The first of the two projects is located in Cadarache (France): ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the largest international nuclear fusion experiment. Funded by seven global powers with the ambition to replicate the In the energy processes of the Sun, 35 countries participate in ITER, including the 27 members of the EU together with Switzerland, as well as China, Japan, India, South Korea, Russia and the United States. But it is not just about science: it is a catalyst for the European industrial fabric.
Since its founding in 2007, F4E has mobilised around €4 billion in contracts to more than 440 EU companies. In particular, since 2008, more than 350 ITER-linked high-tech contracts have been awarded to Spanish companies, for a value of more than 1,200 million euros. A a study by the European Commission between 2008 and 2019 estimates that This programme has generated a gross economic impact of 1,739 million euros and sustained some 29,500 direct and indirect jobs in the EU. Today more than 1,000 professionals work for construction and daily operation, not counting subcontractors or indirect repercussions.
On the other hand, in Escúzar, near Granada, construction is being carried out IFMIF-DONES (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility – DEMO Oriented Neutron Source), the European facility under construction, dedicated to testing and qualifying materials that withstand intense radiation in future fusion reactors such as DEMO. The program was included in the ESFRI Roadmap in 2018 as a priority infrastructure.
With an estimated investment of 800 million euros, financed 50% by Spain, 5% by Croatia and up to 25% by the EU, as well as other countries such as Japan and Italy, through F4E, IFMIF-DONES is proposed as a regional industrial catalyst. It is It estimates that the infrastructure will create up to 11,000 local jobs over the four decades of construction and operation, and about 200 new scientists and engineers will be integrated in the next three years. The project aims to become a scientific, economic and educational epicentre capable of revitalising territories with low population density.
What the ITER and IFMIF-DONES programmes share is their ability to promote high-tech ecosystems: from advanced engineering and robotics, to state-of-the-art materials and digitalised training. The participating companies develop key competencies in magnetism, cryogenics, simulation under radiation, which in turn paves the way for the birth of spin-offs and Deep Tech start-ups in the territory. Not surprisingly, the The Commission’s Fusion Expert Group underlines the strategic importance of these programmes to ensure “the EU’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty in nuclear fusion”
Thus, ITER and IFMIF-DONES are much more than scientific advances: they are hotbeds of industrial capacity, human talent and regional development capable of positioning Europe at the forefront of the next energy revolution. If both initiatives achieve their goals, the Europe of 2050 will not only dominate nuclear fusion, but could also export that technology: from reactors to new accelerator systems and advanced materials. These programs are the link between science and industry, a path traced between research and economic and social prosperity.
