The Director of the IFMIF-DONES España Consortium, Ángel Ibarra, and Deputy Director, Moisés Weber, played a prominent role at the 30th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC2025), held from October 13 to 18, 2025, in Chengdu, China. During the event, Ibarra delivered a plenary overview presentation on the DONES Experimental Program, while Weber chaired the plenary session on Fusion Nuclear Technologies.

The Fusion Energy Conference (FEC), organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is one of the most significant events in the history of fusion research. Since its inception in 1961, the conference — initially known as the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference — has marked a historic milestone in international fusion collaboration. Born in the midst of the Cold War, its first edition in Salzburg brought together scientists from around the world to exchange pioneering results on plasma physics, magnetic confinement, and controlled fusion, laying the foundation for today’s global fusion community.

Over more than six decades, the FEC has been the stage for the presentation of the most significant advances in fusion devices, theory, materials, and reactor design — from the first tokamaks to modern fusion plant concepts — and has fostered the international cooperation that made large-scale projects such as ITER possible.

Today, the conference brings together over 1,000 participants from more than 50 countries, including researchers, engineers, policymakers, and industry leaders, consolidating its position as the world’s largest and most influential meeting dedicated to fusion energy.