The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy will supply additional hydrogen storage containers worth 17 billion won to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

The institute announced on July 18 that it signed a business agreement for neutral beam source bottles (NBSB) in Cadarache, France, on July 17 (local time).

Korea signed a procurement agreement for the storage and delivery system (SDS) for tritium in March. This agreement is an additional cooperation in the ITER fuel cycle field, and it is noteworthy as a project requested by the ITER International Organization in recognition of Korea’s technological capabilities and implementation performance. In particular, it is believed that Korea’s demonstration of technological reliability by stably maintaining a plasma ion temperature of 100 million degrees using the neutral beam heating device in KSTAR received high evaluation.

The neutral beam source bottle (NBSB) is a core facility for stably supplying hydrogen isotopes to the neutral beam system, which is ITER’s plasma heating device. This device is linked to the storage and delivery system (SDS) that stores and supplies deuterium-tritium fuel, and is essential for the stable operation of the ITER fuel cycle system.

Korea has been awarded a project worth a total of 11 million euros (approximately 17 billion won) from the ITER Organization to carry out the entire process from design to manufacturing, testing, and transportation of the NBSB, and plans to pursue this over the next 5 years. Oh Young-kook, director of the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy, said, “This agreement is a result of the ITER International Organization’s high evaluation of Korea’s technological capabilities and reliability,” adding, “We will continue to contribute to opening the era of future fusion commercialization through securing core technologies and expanding international cooperation.”