Centro de Fusão Nuclear (CFN) is the Research Unit of "Instituto Superior Técnico" (IST) that is responsible for the Work Programme of the Contract of Association between IST and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), in force since January 1 st 1990 .

CFN together with Centro de Física de Plasmas, has the status Associate Laboratory of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

CFN has three main objectives:

1. Development of research and development Projects in the frame of the EURATOM Fusion Programme;
2. Education and training of technicians, engineers and physicists in plasma physics, engineering and technologies associated with Fusion;
3. Collaboration in graduation and pos-graduation teaching in the area of plasma physics and engineering.

In order to accomplish the formerly referred objectives, CFN has: 

A magnetic confinement hot plasma, toroidal experiment: the Tokamak ISTTOK;

A linear experiment on beam-plasma interaction, used for the support of  experimental teaching of plasma physics and engineering;

Specialized laboratories in microwaves, fast electronics, vacuum and applied optics;

Collaboration agreements with several foreign institutions allowing access to medium and large size fusion plasma experiments;

Active participation in the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA).

The main objective of the Fusion Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) is the development of models and the design, operation and scientific exploitation of experimental facilities which may allow the construction of fusion power plants that shall produce electric energy from nuclear reactions involving deuterium and tritium ions.

Nuclear Fusion being the most common process of energy production in the Universe (it occurs naturally in the stars and namely in the Sun), it is expected that power plants based on nuclear fusion reactions may constitute a solution for the world energetic problems. Indeed, these power plants will be ecologically clean and safe and they will use a virtually inexhaustive fuel, hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe.