Introduction
Fusion is one of the most promising sources of clean and limitless energy for the future. It does not produce long-lived by-products or greenhouse gases. Its importance is reflected in the development of many national and international programs around the world over the last five decades. Lately, the private sector has joined the fusion effort, hoping to deliver small-scale power plants in the near future. Despite the large amount of research and development (R&D) worldwide, this critical activity remains very weak in the Arab world. To fill this gap, a non-profit group, the Arab Fusion Energy Initiative (AFEI), was formed gathering a diverse group of scientists, professional engineers, and industry leaders who share the common ambition to support fusion energy development throughout the Arab world. The AFEI was established in 2023, in the wake of a successful fusion energy webinar under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan that was organized by Eng. Amro Bader. After lengthy discussions among the members of the Program Committee[1], it was agreed to form a reduced Steering Committee and to advocate for a centralized center/agency, the Arab Fusion Energy Program (AFEP), to champion pro-fusion energy activities and policies in the Arab world, to be hosted under the auspices of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency.
Supporting institutions and individuals
The AFEI group contacted many international high-ranking officials reaching for their support of the idea of forming the AFEP and the feedback was very positive. Namely, the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan through Prince El Hassan bin Talal, who is one of the prominent Arab public figures advocating this initiative, has been very supportive. In addition, among the many positive and supporting responses we received, we cite the following distinguished experts in fusion, listed in alphabetical order:
- Mr. Pietro Barabaschi, Director General of ITER-Organization.
- Dr. Steven Cowley, Director of Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
- Dr. Tony Donné, Former Director of EUROfusion.
- Dr. Ambrogio Fasoli, Director of EUROfusion.
- Dr. Salem Hamdi, Director General of the Arab Atomic Energy Agency.
- Mr. Andrew Holland, CEO of the Fusion Industry Association.
- Dr. Scott Hsu, Senior Advisor and Lead Fusion Coordinator, Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Innovation, US Department of Energy (DOE).
- Dr. Dennis Whyte, Director of Laboratory for Innovations in Fusion Technology at MIT.​
[1] Members of the AFEI Program Committee are Dr. Khaled Toukan – Chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Ghassan Antar – Professor, American University of Beirut, Amro Bader – Senior Engineer, ITER, Dr. Simon Woodruff – President, Woodruff Scientific Inc., Dr. Mohammed Sawan – Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Laila El-Guebaly – Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Sara Moradi – Deputy Head of Fusion Science Department, EUROfusion, Randolph Bell – Head of International Government Affairs, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Jay Brister – Managing Director, BlueSky Nuclear, Dr. Ali Abou-Sena – Senior Research Associate, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Dr. Ali Abdou – Scientific Advisor, Halliburton, Caroline Anderson – Manager for Outreach, Fusion Industry Association, and Abdus Saboor Shaik – PhD student, Imperial College London.​
The International Atomic Energy Program (IAEA)
Contact was initiated with the IAEA and the Director General's office to explore the possibility of their support for the initiative. The IAEA representatives were receptive and willing to support it after establishing the AFEP's legal status. Several ideas exist regarding the exact nature of this support, they include having the AFEI or/and AFEP as an IAEA collaborating center [1].
The US Department of Energy (US-DOE)
A virtual conference was held with Dr. Scott Hsu, Senior Advisor and Lead Fusion Coordinator at the Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Innovation of the US Department of Energy (DOE). Dr. Hsu was very supportive and indicated that he will hold discussions internally within the DOE, and will arrange follow-up meetings, especially after the establishment of the AFEI and AFEP legal entities.​
The ITER Organization
The Director General (DG) of ITER Organization, Mr. Pietro Barabaschi, was informed about the formation of the AFEP. He indicated his moral support for this initiative and asked to keep ITER informed about the initiative's progress to form the AFEP. The DG of ITER has also informed the ITER Council (ITER's supreme authoritative and decision body) about the AFEI. Mr. Massimo Garribba, Head of the ITER Council, was consequently copied on DG Barabaschi's reply to the Steering Committee.
The Arab Fusion Energy Program under the Arab Atomic Energy Agency's (AAEA) umbrella
From the various discussions among ourselves and with the international partners, we needed to legalize the establishment of the Arab Fusion Energy Agence. Since we wanted to emphasize the collaborative aspect of this enterprise, which should stress the need to work together as Arab countries, we decided to contact the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) through its Director General, Dr. Salim Hamdi. We explained our goals and more importantly the possibility of obtaining the AAEA's support to establish the AFEI under its auspices. Dr. Hamdi was very supportive and presented the AFEI's candidacy to the AAEA's Executive Board. Indeed, in May 2024, the AAEA's Executive Council voted unanimously in favor of welcoming the Arab Fusion Energy Initiative, renaming it the Arab Fusion Energy Program. The AAEA's decision is shown below in Arabic, and translated into English:
The official decision by the AAEA to welcome the Arab Fusion Energy Initiative and call upon the establishment of the Arab Fusion Energy Program (text reads in Arabic).
Therefore, there are presently two components for fusion activity in the Arab world: the Arab Fusion Energy Program (AFEP), which is likely to be an inter-governmental fusion energy collaboration working under the umbrella of the AAEA, and the Arab Fusion Energy Initiative, which is a research initiative hosted by Ì©¹ú²ÊƱ and is working on paving the ground in the Arab region and building a supportive ecosystem for fusion energy development in the region through various activities, like education, outreach, conferences, and others, outlined in further detail in the following sections.