2024

Hakola, Antti; Lyytinen, Tommi

This report summarizes the work done under the VTT part of the ECO-Fusion coinnovation project (Finnish Ecosystem for Industrial Fusion Technology, 40962/31/2020), co-funded by Business Finland, VTT and the European Union (under EUROfusion Consortium). The co-innovation partners were VTT, University of Helsinki, Luvata Oy, Electro Optical Systems Finland Oy, Insinööritoimisto Comatec Oy, and Platom Oy. The main goals of the project were establishing a functional fusion ecosystem in Finland, facilitate growth and export of Finnish companies in fields related to fusion technology and take part in emerging tendering opportunities on the international arena, as well as increasing the competences of the participants in targeted research areas. For VTT, the latter included remote maintenance of components and sub-systems in fusion reactors, design and characterization of novel materials for the harsh environment inside fusion reactors, providing the scientific community with new information to guarantee successful operation of future fusion power plants, as well as ensuring safe operation of the plant, handling of the produced radioactive waste and final decommissioning of the fusion reactor. ECO-Fusion was part of the FinnFusion Consortium, a network for Finnish universities, research institutes, companies, and decision-makers, which ensured large visibility for the key achievements of the project and offered novel ways for collaboration. Thanks to the EU involvement, ECO-Fusion was a highly international programme and during its lifetime in 2021-2024 links and and new contracts were established with several foreign companies and organizations, including the US, the UK, and South Korea.<br/>