The beauty of nuclear science and high technology, revealed in 30 professional photographs on the Bridge of Lovers, will delight the residents and guests of Sofia from 10th to 23rd August 2021.

The organizer of the photo exhibition “Sun on the Earth – New Era in Nuclear Technologies” is the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy – BAS in partnership with the Bulgarian Nuclear Society, with the assistance of Sofia Municipality and the support of “Rosatom” and “Bulatom”.

The exhibition is inspired by advances in the field of thermonuclear fusion. The pictures reflect moments in the development of the international engineering and research project ITER as well as Bulgarian participation in it. Many of them were provided by ITER as well as by INRNE-BAS and Kozloduy NPP. The images not only present the development of the project but also give a different, more beautiful view of science and technology.

ITER is a global project to build a facility in which energy will be generated by the fusion of deuterium and tritium. The results obtained from thermonuclear fusion research will help both to use it effectively in industry and in the life of existing technologies as well as to create new ones.

The experimental reactor being built in Cadarache, France, is based on the Russian Tokamak device created in the 1950s by physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov.  More than 35 countries are involved in the project, including EU member states, China, India, Japan, Russia, the USA and the Republic of Korea. As a representative of the Russian state, the nuclear corporation “Rosatom” is also actively involved in the construction of the “Earth Sun”. Bulgarian participation takes the form of a number of scientific studies under the Controlled Fusion Programme which is regulated by the EURATOM-INRNE Association.

ITER is one of the most ambitious and large-scale energy projects in the world, as nuclear fusion does not occur on Earth under natural conditions. Alongside its scientific achievements and innovative solutions, the project demonstrates the benefits to society that a successful partnership between science and business brings.

The official opening of the photo exhibition is at 7:30 pm on 10 August 2021 on the Lovers’ Bridge, National Palace of Culture.