For many years, the teams have developed a recognized expertise in the field of fusion in plasma physics, and in the field of fission in instrumentation and materials characterization. The research work carried out within the institute allows the Institute to maintain/increase its expertise in these fields, to position itself on the nuclearisation of fusion and to build interdisciplinary work with an SHS component.

The research work conducted within the Institute is divided into 6 main areas

• Edge plasma physics and plasma wall interactions
• Physics of containment of magnetized plasmas
• Nuclear instrumentation and detection: sensors/detectors, ruggedized electronics
• Materials and Structures: Characterization and Modeling
• Thermal diagnostics and measurement of thermophysical properties
• Human and Social Sciences

The work conducted in the field of fission targets the major societal issues of safety and security, the longevity of reactors in operation, the decommissioning of nuclear facilities at the end of their life, the production, management and advanced characterisation of radioactive waste and the evolution of nuclear power. Two components common to all these issues are the need to carry out increasingly efficient and advanced measurements and to propose major advances in materials and structures. For example, it is a question of contributing to :

• Improving the understanding of complex coupled phenomena appearing in particular during tests and trials under irradiation of inert materials and fuels to study their accelerated ageing in particular
• Online control and monitoring of the integrity of components and structures
• Carry out diagnostics prior to maintenance or dismantling operations
• Defining, testing and validating new concepts using other resources and minimizing radioactive waste in particular
• Propose new solutions related to the management of this waste

The work carried out in the field of fusion targets the major societal challenge of demonstrating the feasibility of fusion as a massive and continuous source of energy. In addition to the design and manufacture of a new machine such as ITER, this challenge is accompanied by new needs in terms of modelling (increasingly high-performance multi-physical and multi-scale numerical simulation tools), phenomenology and instrumental means of measurement in increasingly constrained/extreme environments. For example, the aim is to contribute to :

• Improving and developing models in the field of turbulence and transport physics
• Improve understanding of the mechanisms related to component erosion, deposition and deuterium/tritium retention
• Controlling containment
• Control power extraction
• Carry out diagnostics for the control of key parameters
• Developing nuclear instrumentation related to TBM
• Studying innovative materials