The role of the Associations in the European fusion programme

The national fusion laboratories — the “Associations” — in the European fusion programme have the task of providing the necessary programme scope to produce frontier scientific knowledge, and to attract and train the next generation of scientists. This has to be balanced with the requirements of goal-oriented projects like JET or ITER. Until a market for fusion power stations becomes available, the “demand” side for fusion must be provided by the Associations.