Petition to extend JET beyond 2023

Dear DG M. Lemaître and DG. D. Juul-Jørgensen

We are very grateful for your letter of 30/11/2023, in which you explain how you see the future of fusion in Europe, without JET. We apologise we have not responded earlier, we were quite involved in the last few experiments at JET. The experimental campaign ended on 20/12/2023.

We are now reflecting on yours and other responses. We find it rather interesting that all authorities forget to mention that JET internationalisation didn't happen in 2016 because ITER (then lead by Mr. Bigot) opposed it. They expected ITER to be functioning in the 2020s, and wanted to avoid a "resource conflict" (meaning a personnel shortage). Now this expectation turned out to be incorrect, and the decision to close JET is actually producing a resource gap: fusion-relevant expertise will be lost before ITER or DEMO are ready to need it. We wonder why a revision of earlier decisions, to take into account the expected delays in ITER's construction, hasn't been considered now.

Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of UKAEA, clearly states in his response to our petition "We are always open to potential collaborations, and if another partner brings forward a scientifically meritorious proposal with full finance, then we would discuss this, but we would need to receive such proposals very soon". In a conversation with him last week we agreed we still have a few months in which to gather support and funding for at least a short campaign in 2024. This would allow us to explore options in 2024 to organise the upgrades needed to mimic ITER's choices in JET in the medium term.  

We wish you a restful and peaceful winter holiday,

Regards from the JET petition team, Scientists for JET (now with 1036 signatures from fusion experts, we stopped seeking more in November)