FPN18-41

Fusion Veteran Carlos Alejaldre Named CIEMAT Director General

September 25, 2018

Veteran fusion scientist Dr Carlos Alejaldre accepted a request by the Spanish Council of Ministers to take the responsibility of Director General of CIEMAT on 21 September and started his new responsibility on 24 September. CIEMAT, an Organism of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, is a Public Research Agency that is mainly focused on energy and the environment, but also conducts studies into many advanced technologies and in various areas of fundamental research. Its staff numbers upward from 1200. He had been working with the ITER Organization in Cadarache, France

A plasma physicist by training, Carlos has held several important positions in fusion research. Prior to joining ITER, he headed CIEMAT's national fusion laboratory (1992-2004) and was for two years (2004-2006) the director general of technological policy at the Spanish ministry of Education and Science. He was an ITER Organization Deputy-Director-General from 2006 to 2015 and was responsible for the safety aspects, especially nuclear safety, of the ITER design. He played a large role in getting the ITER project moving into the construction phase from the design phase. He was instrumental in successfully getting a nuclear license for ITER from the French Nuclear Authority in 2012.

He obtained a degree in Physics from the University of Saragosse (Spain), and earned a PhD from the Polytechnic Institute of New York. He was the technical director of the ITER site proposal in Vandellos (Spain) (2001-2003).

He can be reached at carlos.alejaldre@icloud.com.