Swiss Plasma Center to harness the sun's energy

22. At EPFL, the Center for Research in Plasma Physics (CRPP) has become the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), and for good reason: the Center is upgrading its facilities and expanding its scope of activities. These improvements strengthen the role the Lausanne-based tokamak will play as one of three research facilities selected by the EUROfusion consortium to develop nuclear fusion as part of the international project known as ITER. Once mastered, nuclear fusion will be able to produce enough energy - clean, reliable energy - to meet the needs of mankind for centuries to come. Unlike fission, fusion does not create radioactive waste with a long lifespan, and it is based on abundant materials that are easier to extract than uranium. Numerous international research projects are under way, and one of the most crucial challenges they face is plasma confinement. This refers to confining a gas that is heated to more than a hundred million degrees - considerably hotter than the core of the sun - so that the component hydrogen atoms will fuse and release huge amounts of energy.