On 4th of June, 2024, members of EUROfusion gathered in Kaunas, the second-largest city of Lithuania for General Assembly, the quarterly meeting of the decision-making body of  European consortium for fusion research, where progress towards realising fusion energy is discussed between the consortium members.

The fusion group at LEI does important work in the EUROfusion consortium. They perform safety and reliability analyses for the future European demonstration fusion power plant DEMO, as well as study the effect of fast neutron particles and energy emission in existing machines like the Joint European Torus JET and the materials research facility IFMIF-DONES.

“As a group of 15 researchers, we of course have to specialise, but that does not mean we work alone”, says dr. Egidijus Urbonavičius, the head of the Lithuanian fusion research group. “Being part of EUROfusion lets us participate in a world-class research programme, gives access to European fusion machines and the fusion research community, and lets us make an impact on the way to achieve fusion electricity.”

At the beginning of the event, Chairman of the Research Council of Lithuania dr. Gintaras Valinčius and director of the Lithuanian Energy Institute dr. Sigitas Rimkevičius said welcome remarks.

“EUROfusion consortium implements the major Horizon Europe project in fusion energy research. The Lithuanian Energy Institute is proud to be part of the EUROfusion consortium and contribute to the development of fusion energy – sustainable, low-carbon energy source. We believe that this GA meeting will provide an additional impulse for the LEI to be more active in this important future energy research field”, says dr. Sigitas Rimkevičius.