Bernard Bigot, head of the Iter nuclear fusion program, died at the age of 72

Frenchman Bernard Bigot, director general of the international Iter nuclear fusion research project, is dead “carried away by illness” at the age of 72. “A major player in the world of science and energy for more than four decades, he left a lasting mark on the international research program Iter, which he took over in 2015”adds Iter Organization in a press release published on Saturday, May 14.

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Bernard Bigot had put the experimental nuclear fusion reactor program back on track, while its viability was questioned and some of the countries were considering questioning their participation. Today, “Each of the partners – China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States – has produced its share of very high-tech parts intended for the machine and the industrial systems of the ‘facility”, according to Iter. And three quarters of “tasks essential to the production of a first plasma are now carried outare”.

First plasma production by 2026

Based in Cadarache (Bouches-du-Rhône), Iter aims to master the production of energy from the fusion of hydrogen, as in the heart of the Sun. Nuclear fusion is considered by its defenders as the energy of tomorrow because it could be almost unlimited and non-polluting.

The first plasma production should take place in 2026 and the reactor will reach full power in 2035. The project budget has tripled, amounting to nearly 20 billion euros. The deputy director of Iter, the Japanese Eisuke Tada, will take over the management of the program on an interim basis, “pending the appointment of his successor by the Iter Council”according to the organization.