Trips and outings22 September 20252 min read

A special visit to the ITER centre

On 14 November 2025, Eridan middle and high school students will be able to visit the ITER international research centre at Cadarache, devoted to nuclear fusion.

On 14 November 2025, Eridan middle and high school students will have the chance to visit the international research centre at Cadarache. It is a cutting-edge centre where 35 countries collaborate to develop nuclear fusion energy, the energy source of the future.

What is ITER?

ITER stands for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. It is a scientific and technological project bringing together 35 partner countries around a common goal: to show that nuclear fusion, the energy source of the stars, can be used on Earth as a clean, safe and almost inexhaustible energy.

Unlike the nuclear fission used in today's power plants, fusion produces no long-lived radioactive waste and uses abundant resources as fuel, such as deuterium and tritium. ITER is therefore a key step towards tomorrow's energy.

For more information, see the official ITER website.

Why is the ITER project important?

Humanity needs to find alternatives to fossil fuels and reduce its CO₂ emissions. Nuclear fusion could meet these challenges, because it:

produces a large amount of energy;
emits no greenhouse gases;
relies on resources available in large quantities;
offers greater safety than current reactors.

What we will discover and learn

During the visit, we will discover a scientific project unique in the world and gain a better understanding of the role of nuclear fusion in energy production. We will see the impressive facilities, such as the hall that will house the reactor, and a model explaining how it works.

Thanks to the explanations of the guides and researchers, we will learn:

how nuclear fusion works and how it differs from the fission used in current power plants;
which cutting-edge technologies are used, such as superconducting magnets or the vacuum chamber;
why fusion is a clean and sustainable energy source for the future;
how countries from around the world collaborate to take on this scientific and technological challenge.

This trip will be a chance to learn new science concepts, understand sustainable development issues and see first-hand how research is preparing the energy solutions of the future.