  The work on a new fully variational model of average-atom in quantum plasmas
using a numerical code called VAAQP is reported. A brief description of the
code is given. Application to aluminium at solid density and temperatures
between 0.05 and 12 eV is presented. Comparisons to results obtained using
other approaches are also shown and discussed. The results prove the
feasibility of the variational model in the warm dense matter regime. Effects
of the variational treatment can lead in this region to significant differences
with respect to existing models.
