A research collaboration between Tunisia and China has yielded plans to develop a pioneering laboratory dedicated to plasma physics, a key element of nuclear fusion research which will be based at Tunisia\u2019s prestigious National Engineering School of Tunis at the University of Tunis El Manar (UTM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative is being led by Tunisia\u2019s National Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies<\/a> (CNSTN \u2013 Centre National des Sciences et Technologies Nucl\u00e9aires<\/em>), also at UTM, together with the Institute of Plasma Physics \u2013 Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n An agreement to create the laboratory was signed by Adel Trabelsi, CNSTN director general, and Song Yuntao, ASIPP director general, during a meeting of the Tunisian School of Plasma Physics and Nuclear Fusion, a one-week session of learning and debates, held in Hammamet, Tunisia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song said at the Hammamet event that the agreement with Tunisian scientific establishments underscores China\u2019s \u201cstrong commitment to promoting scientific and technological collaboration\u201d and will build academic ties with Tunisia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tunisia relies on natural gas for most of its electricity generation, but its government has been assessing whether to build a nuclear power plant since 2006, with the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company leading feasibility studies and working with international experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A significant scientific event<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trabelsi said: \u201cThis agreement stipulates the establishment of the first laboratory of plasma physics and nuclear fusion in Tunisia. This constitutes a significant scientific event for Tunisia,\u201d adding that it would work on \u201cone of the most important areas of scientific research in recent years\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trabelsi, who is also a physics professor at UTM and has been involved in promoting the collaboration agreement, said experts from both organisations are now planning the laboratory and its equipment, with funding coming from the Chinese and Tunisian institutes, and El Manar University, with donations of technology from Tunisia and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The initial laboratory will be a small-scale operation costing EUR100,000 (about US$107,500), which will, it is hoped, open by the New Year, he said, paving the way to a larger facility that will cost EUR5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe next stage will bring more equipment and upgrades to the existing one,\u201d Trabelsi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, participating researchers will be largely Tunisian, but Trabelsi said experts from other Middle Eastern and North African countries would be recruited, with visits by Chinese scientists who will provide recommendations and share experience. Ownership of intellectual property of innovations generated at the new institution would be shared by the laboratory and the scientists developing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deal will encourage collaboration on nuclear fusion and plasma physics research between CNSTN and ASIPP, with between 30 and 40 researchers and students working together each year. They will also work with researchers from France\u2019s Commissariat \u00e0 l\u2019\u00c9nergie Atomique et aux \u00c9nergies Alternatives<\/a>, which has also agreed to participate in the collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other nuclear-focused higher education and research centres in Tunisia include the Centre CERU Nuclear Medicine, a medical imaging platform exploring nuclear medicine and radiology. The government also runs the Tunisia National Centre for Radiation Protection in Tunis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Training benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to University World News<\/em>, Fatma Argoubi, assistant professor for physics at UTM, said that \u201cseveral faculty members from UTM and CNSTN are working on various aspects of the field\u201d, with students having benefited from three sessions of the plasma and fusion school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n