Sergio Orlandi is an accomplished nuclear engineer, who worked all over the world. At the 57 years young he came to lead the construction of ITER, an international science project, which will change (and already changing) the world for the better.

My name is Sergio Orlandi and I am Plant Construction Director, the head of the plant construction department of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject.

I think nuclear technologies were my destiny.

Ever since I was a kid, I paid special attention to materials behavior. Why water turns into steam or ice? Even in my earliest “studies”, I always wanted to get to the bottom of things: to study something which is smaller, and smaller, and smaller, down to the elementary particles. When people asked me, “what do you want to do when you grow up?” I said I wanted to study nuclear behavior of things.

Therefore, the next reasonable step was to get nuclear education. I graduated in nuclear engineering from Pisa University and then I got my PhD in Safety Nuclear Engineering. I went to work at the Ansaldo Nucleare when I was a student, and I climbed to the top becoming Director General. As an engineer, I worked all over the world. After Italy decided to abandon nuclear power in 1986, I moved my company in the international nuclear market working in Russia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, etc.

After 10 years as the head of the company, I left it for another passion, which was the ITER project. Now when I think about it I realize that my path to ITER was quite thorny. I was born in Libya. Then I came to Italy. I lived and worked in Russia, in the US, in China and in Europe. I came to work at ITER in 2013. Starting fresh when you are 57 is not an easy fit. However, I guess the sheer magnitude of the project powers me up. I mean we are trying (and we will succeed) to recreate the same reaction of fusion that you can see in a star. We have the dream to simulate Sun on Earth.

Funny enough, I owe this job (probably the most exciting in my life) to my son Francesco. Francesco found the opening and sent an application to ITER project with my CV. I want to thank him because I would never have done that myself. Today, I am 64 but I do not feel old, quite the opposite. Once again, our project makes me feel young. When you have such a goal in front of you, your only dream and aspiration is always push forward.

Why ITER is so important? Because it holds keys to global prosperity.

Just imagine acquiring cheap energy from seawater. It is a hope for a bright future for all countries and the whole world. It is the way to produce energy at low cost from a nuclear source, which is effectively endless. At this very moment, millions still lack access to energy, which means they cannot eat, cannot produce, and cannot have a comfortable life. Succeeding at our site is the first step, of course. In future, people will be able to roll out such a power plant anywhere in the world.

Another reason is technology spill meaning use of the ITER technologies elsewhere, for example, vacuum technology or cryotechnology can be implemented in aerospace, medicine, transportation, etc. If you know where to look, you would realize that ITER is transforming the world already. For example, liquid nitrogen is changing the aerospace industry, because we were able to ensure superconductivity and we are inventing new materials.

ITER is an international organization involving 35 nations with very different cultural backgrounds, working together as one unique team. In early 1950s-60s, Russian scientists conceptualized TOKAMAK, which is the heart of the ITER. Therefore, obviously, Russia is one of the founding countries. The Russians did many good things for the project but I want to mention that they have increased the number of people working on site to respect the schedule and to increase its contribution during the COVID. It is something that I will never forget.

My biggest professional dream today is to be able to complete ITER on schedule.

So far, so good. I have seen my plants being commissioned before elsewhere. You get very involved, you consider them as your kids. My other dream is more personal. Once, ITER is commissioned I want to spend the rest of my life as a volunteer. My wife and I try to spend a couple of weeks every year in Africa helping those in need, but I want to be able to do it fulltime.

When I talk about the importance of abundance of energy, I know exactly what I am talking about. Energy is needed by all countries, all over the world. I believe this is something very important for all of us to achieve.