The objective of the HiPER+ project is to develop inertial fusion research in Europe and propose the construction of a civilian, open, pan-European  implosion facility.

The recent ignition breakthroughs at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) provided a validation of the Inertial Fusion concept, achieving ignition and gain beyond breakeven, and opening the pathway towards Inertial fusion Energy (IFE). This has led all over the world to a big shift from defense-driven research to energy-oriented research. It accelerated activities of the European IFE community leading to submission of HiPER+ project (“Conceptual design for a European High Power Laser Fusion Research Facility (HiPER+RF)”), which was launched at the beginning of 2026.

The project builds on the previous HiPER project (2008–2013), the Eurofusion Enabling Research projects on direct drive and shock ignition (2017–2025), the HiPER+ Roadmap (published in the journal HPLSE in 2023) and the COST Action CA21128 PROBONO (2022-2026).

The goal of the HiPER+ RF project is to develop the conceptual design of a next-generation European laser fusion research facility for Direct Drive (DD) inertial confinement fusion (ICF). While Europe leads in magnetic confinement fusion, it lacks a civilian-accessible laser-driven program, leaving a strategic gap with the US and China. NIF results highlight the urgency for Europe to invest in direct-drive inertial fusion as a complementary path towards Fusion Energy.

The project, coordinated by D. Batani (Univ. Bordeaux), has a duration of 2 years ending in December 2027. The EUROfusion Consortium allocated 2.3 mln EUR to the project – and a similar amount is contributed by the participating institutions. It involves 146 researchers from 30 research groups located in 12 European countries and it is organised in 7 Working Packages covering all aspects related to development of the future implosion facility.

HiPER+

Org chart

Teams

Offices