°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ

Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization publication(s) that you have requested. °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Newsline

  • Fusion supply chain | A glimpse into the future for commercial fusion reactors

    Most of the USD 7 billion in investment in private fusion initiatives has gone to companies that are building devices from the ground up. But recently, another [...]

    Read more

  • Outreach | °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ @ October science festivals

    Every October, before schools pause for two weeks of holiday, towns and cities in France open their municipal spaces to scientific experts of all stripes who ar [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Director-General visits Russia

    The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Director-General was in Russia last week, meeting with stakeholders and holding technical meetings with colleagues in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. As [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the Week | Sector 5 is on its way

    The first vacuum vessel sector produced in Europe travelled last week between Monfalcone, Italy, and the French port of Fos-sur-Mer. The 440-tonne component had [...]

    Read more

  • Anniversary | °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Document Management system turns 20

    Whatever its nature, every large project generates huge numbers of documents. And when project collaborators operate from different countries, as was the case f [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

Top management

°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council appoints new Director-General

Convening in an extraordinary session in Paris, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council has appointed Pietro Barabaschi as the next Director-General of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization. Mr Barabaschi is expected to take office in the coming weeks.

Pietro Barabaschi, © F4E (Click to view larger version...)
Pietro Barabaschi, © F4E
Following the passing of former Director-General Bernard Bigot in May 2022, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council launched a search and recruitment effort to select his successor. In an extraordinary meeting in Paris on 14-15 September 2022 the Council held interviews with the finalist candidates and unanimously chose Pietro Barabaschi to lead the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Project.

At the same time, the Council thanked Eisuke Tada for his service as Interim Director-General during the transition period.

Trained as an electro-mechanical engineer, Pietro Barabaschi has spent virtually his entire career in the service of fusion research.

Shortly after his university studies in Italy, he joined the Joint European Torus, JET, where he worked in the Department of Machine Development. During the Engineering Design Activities (EDA) phase for °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ, he was part of the Joint Work Site in San Diego (USA) and later the Joint Work Site in Garching/Munich (Germany), where by 2006 he was Deputy to the Project Leader and Head of the Design Integration Division. Since 2008, Mr Barabaschi has been the Head of Broader Approach Programme and Delivery for Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Union organization responsible for Europe's contribution to °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ.

Twice also—in 2015 and this year since June—Pietro Barabaschi served as Acting Director of Fusion for Energy in Barcelona, Spain, responsible for overall management of the organization (450 staff) and the implementation of reform measures while recruitment was ongoing for a new Director.  

The Broader Approach activities complement the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Project and aim to accelerate the realization of fusion energy. The Broader Approach Agreement, signed in 2007, set into motion three projects, all located in Japan, with the joint investment of Euratom and the government of Japan (represented by its Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, MEXT)*.

The work includes the construction, now completed, of the advanced tokamak fusion device JT-60SA, the construction of the prototype accelerator for the IFMIF project, and preliminary work on DEMO, the future European demonstration reactor.

"I'm conscious of the immense responsibility that I am taking on, and feel privileged for having been selected through an intensive competitive selection process. I wish to thank the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council for this honour," declared the incoming Director-General. "The first 15 years of my career have been dedicated to °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ and I now hope to be able to take on what my predecessors have done towards our common objective. I will make it a priority to improve the integration of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization and Domestic Agencies, both essential elements of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Project, now and even more in the forthcoming phases of commissioning of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ."

The new °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization Director-General is expected to take office in October.

*Since 2016 and the establishment of the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST) in Japan, the agreement has been developed collaboratively by implementing agencies F4E and QST. In 2020, the Agreement was extended to cover further cooperation on research and development in the field of fusion energy.

Read the press release issued on 15 September 2022 by the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council in English and in French. A brief curriculum vitae for Director-General Barabaschi can also be downloaded in English and in French.



return to the latest published articles