12th ITER International School: The Impact and Consequences of Energetic Particles on Fusion Plasmas

In a world where energy production is becoming more and more critical due to the consumption of available resources and due to the need of minimising carbon emission, nuclear fusion becomes the most promising candidate for the future of energy, as it is safe, limitless and clean. Current nuclear fusion research is based on the collaborative effort of an international community spread over 35 countries around the world that is based on the ITER project. This is a major project that is crucial to advancing the science of fusion and preparing the road to the commercial reactor. The ITER International School (ISS) responds to the need for training in this critical energy context, where fusion research is a cornerstone for the success of a large-scale project and international impact. The IIS has naturally become a global reference in the ITER project. The 12th ITER International School will be held 26-30 June 2023 and hosted by Aix-Marseille University in Aix en Provence. The subject of this year's school is “The Impact and Consequences of Energetic Particles on Fusion Plasmas”. As the start of ITER operations approaches, it is timely to address this multidisciplinary topic that includes plasma self-heating by fusion-born alpha-particles, the influence of energetic particles on stability, diagnosing energetic particle transport and loss, and understanding runaway electrons. The ITER International School aims to prepare young scientists and engineers for working in the field of nuclear fusion and in research applications associated with the ITER Project. The adoption of a “school format” was a consequence of the need to prepare future scientists and engineers on a range of different subjects and to provide them with a wide overview of the interdisciplinary skills required by the ITER project. The first ITER School was organized in July 2007 in Aix-en-Provence, France, and focused on turbulent transport in fusion plasmas. Nine subsequent schools have followed focused on different subjects: in 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan, on magnetic confinement; in 2009 in Aix-en-Provence, on plasma-surface interactions; in 2010 in Austin, USA, on Magneto-Hydro-Dynamics (MHD); in 2011 in Aix-en-Provence, on MHD and energetic particles; in 2012 in Ahmedabad, India, on radio-frequency heating; in 2014 in Aix-en-Provence, on High Performance Computing in fusion science; in 2016 in Hefei, China, on transport and pedestal physics in tokamaks; in 2017 in Aix-en-Provence on physics of disruptions and control; in 2019 in Daejeon, Korea on the physics and technology of power flux handling and, finally,in 2022 in San Diego, USA on ITER plasma scenarios and control.