(Tokyo, 1st April 2006)

High level negotiators from China, European Union, the Republic of India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America met at the Tokyo International Exchange Center in Tokyo on 1st April 2006 to finalize the ITER negotiations and to take key decisions on the future of the project.

Conclusion of ITER Negotiations

At the Meeting, the representatives of the seven Parties involved accepted the final results of the four years of intensive negotiations and confirmed their intentions now to present proposals to their respective authorities for approval to conclude the international agreement on the project.

Designation of nominee Principal Deputy Director-General

Following interviews with all Parties, the negotiators unanimously agreed on the proposal of European Union to designate Dr. Norbert Holtkamp as nominee to the principal technical management post under the Director-General of the prospective ITER Organization. Dr. Holtkamp is currently Director of Accelerator Systems Division, Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA.  The Parties asked Dr. Holtkamp to take up his duties promptly.

Coming after the designation in November 2005 of Ambassador Kaname Ikeda as the nominee Director-General, this means that the core of the management team of the prospective ITER Organization is now in place.

Conclusion

These two developments confirm that the ITER Project is well on the way to becoming a reality with the start of its construction. The core of the management team will now press forward with the build up of the international ITER Team and its activities on the ITER site.

As the next major step in the official process, a meeting of the parties at Ministerial level is planned for 24 May in Brussels for the purpose of initialling the ITER Agreement.