Title: Star Power for a Sustainable Future: Successes and Challenges in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Project
Speaker: Dr. Masanori Onozuka, Project Director, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) – France
Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
Time: 1:00pm
Location: NASA/LaRC, IESB, Rooms 114/115
Host: Stephen M. Casey, NASA/LaRC
Abstract: ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today. In southern France, The ITER Members -China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States- are collaborating to build the world’s largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a source of energy based on the same principle that powers our Sun and stars. Thousands of engineers and scientists have contributed to the design of ITER since the idea for an international joint experiment in fusion was first launched in 1985. The ITER Members are now engaged in a 35-year collaboration to build and operate the ITER experimental device. An overview of the project and construction status will be presented, followed by a presentation of challenges in the project management and technical integration during the engineering design, procurements and on-site construction.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Masanori Onozuka joined the ITER Organization in October 2015 as Head of Central Integration Office, which is in charge of design integration, design control, configuration management, project-wide analyses, CAD design office and IT. He has thirty-three years of experience in the nuclear industry with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) in Japan, with over 12 years in Europe and the U.S. He is a former vice president of Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems, Inc. in the U.S., a subsidiary of MHI to manage marketing, the site-specific plant engineering and licensing process of a MHI’s new PWR power plant in the U.S. He has specifically handled all aspects of U.S. regulatory review, licensing applications, site-specific plant design, as well as quality assurance. He is an alumnus of MIT, with a degree in the nuclear engineering. He is a member the Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Society, as well as a member of the American Nuclear Society and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan.