Workshop | European cooperation in nuclear fusion research: from history to future policy design

Archivio Antico, Palazzo Bo
Sala Seminari 2, Dipartimento SPGI

Dal 18.06.2025 al 20.06.2025

The workshop will be held on 18-20 June 2025 at University of Padua.

Interest in fusion energy as a future clean‐energy source has grown steadily since it became a focus of international cooperation at the 1958 Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. Fusion research has promised environmental, political, and economic benefits and has been described as a form of “fusion science diplomacy.” In Europe, it also played a key role in early integration efforts—from EURATOM’s creation in 1957 to ITER’s establishment in 2007. However, fusion’s high costs and repeated delays have fueled debates in scientific and political circles about its viability and public‐investment priorities. These discussions reflect a complex mix of techno‐scientific advances, national agendas, and environmental concerns.

The workshop organized by Project FusEUrope - European Cooperation in Nuclear Fusion Research: From History to Future Policy Design - provides a forum to explore these historical patterns and debates, spanning scientific collaboration, political imperatives, technological choices, and environmental issues. A special event will be dedicated to the history of fusion research in Padua.

The workshop will conclude with a round-table discussion (in Italian) on the past, present, and future of fusion energy, open to the general public.

Sessions on June 18 (workshop) and round table on June 20 are freely accessible. Due to limited seating, anyone interested in June 19 or the June 20 sessions should contact the organizers in advance (roberto.lalli@polito.it).

THE PROJECT

Funded by the Italian PRIN PNRR 2022 program, FusEUrope is a multidisciplinary project on the history of European techno-scientific cooperation in nuclear fusion energy research and its interplay with the process of European political integration from the creation of EURATOM in 1957 to the establishment of ITER in 2007. It combines historical, epistemological, and public‐opinion analyses to shed new light on fusion’s role in Europe’s scientific and political landscape.
FusEUrope Website

Scientific and organizing committee: Giulia Bentivoglio, University of Padua, Roberto Lalli, Politecnico di Torino, Adele La Rana, University of Macerata, Luca Guzzardi, University of Milan.