The European Commission, through the General Directorate for Research and Innovation, has awarded a four-year €10m ($11.2m) Framework Contract to a consortium led by Ansaldo Nucleare.

The consortium also comprises Empresarios Agrupados Internacional and Framatome and the contract covers pre-conceptual design work for a European Fusion Demonstration Reactor.

The nuclear fusion project is seen as another important step towards clean, infinite and reliable energy for future generations and a vital step towards achieving viable commercial fusion.

The contract aims at an assessment of the nuclear fusion power plant physics and technology system architecture, overall configuration and system engineering processes.

The contract will provide services based on European industry-best practice in areas including system architecture, overall configuration and manufacturing options, and control systems.

Ansaldo Nucleare, part of Italy’s Ansaldo Energia group, is a member of the ITER fusion project since its beginning and has been involved in the fabrication of the vacuum vessel key elements and its assembly at the site in Cadarache, France.