It may have been signed on 1 April but this is far from being an April Fool's joke: Last week, the ITER Director-General Kaname Ikeda signed the application for the construction permit for the Poloidal Field Coil Winding Facility that will be the first structure to take shape on the ITER site this summer. "This facility together with the permanent office buildings, which are expected to rise this year as well, will clearly mark the fact that ITER is moving towards its construction phase," ITER Director-General Kaname Ikeda said. "This visible progress will do everyone good."