Photo exhibition “Sun of the Earth – A New Age in Nuclear Technology” dedicated to fusion and the ITER project was presented in Sofia. The exhibition was held from 10 to 23 August and was located at the Bridge of Lovers nearby the National Palace of Culture, which is one of the most visited places in the Bulgarian capital.
The exhibition included thirty professional photos that presented the ITER project. The Bulgarian Nuclear Society co-organized the event together with the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The initiative was realized thanks to the assistance of Sofia Municipality and the support of ROSATOM and Bulatom.
The ITER project is the most powerful scientific integration between nations in the world, the ITER Director Professor Bernard Bigo said in a special video address to the guests at the official opening of the exhibition. He added that ITER embodies the ambition of physicists and engineers to reproduce energy production as it happens in the Sun.
The exhibition is a remarkable photo story about the human achievements in the field of nuclear fusion and about the construction of a large-scale high-tech facility with the joint efforts of 35 countries, including Bulgaria as a member of the European Union.
The photos presented the construction of an experimental reactor under the ITER project where the energy generation will be based on the nuclear fusion of deuterium and tritium.
The ITER project is exclusive because the nuclear fusion process does not occur in natural conditions on the Earth but in the stars. The expected benefits of the project to humanity have more than an economic dimension. The ITER project value is also determined by the integration of individual nationalities, related to scientific discoveries and achievements, as well as to the demonstration of successful partnership between science and business, which can be an example for other areas.
Furthermore, the photos prove that science can also be beautiful. Most of the cadres look like works of avant-garde art. Those who failed to see them on the spot can take advantage of this opportunity online through the “European Night of Scientists”, an initiative of nauka.bg, which is one of the leading sites for the promotion of science in Bulgaria (the word “nauka” means science in Bulgarian language).
The exhibition aimed to provoke the interest of young people into the nuclear science and to present the importance that research and discoveries have for the future development of the society.
