In 2009, the UPV Leioa campus will implement the world's first ion source test bank. The ITUR project will be led by the Tekniker-Ik4 technology centre. It will enable a pioneering and technology-specific comparison of existing ion sources.
In the world there are two sources of ions in operation, one in Britain and one in the United States, and a third under construction in Japan. But there is no test bank that measures the performance and efficiency of these emissions, which is what will be built in Leioa for 2009.