Early on Friday 6 September, as the Ministerial representatives from seven ITER Members converged towards Saint Paul-lez-Durance, the day dawned bright and sunny. Ideal conditions for a historic ITER Council Ministerial-Level Meeting...

In November 2006, following the signature of the ITER Agreement in Paris, Ministers had come together to mark a first, crucial moment in Project history—the signature of the international treaty establishing the legal entity to be responsible for the construction, operation and decommissioning of ITER.

Last week's Ministerial-level meeting intervened at another crucial moment. The Project is now in full construction, component fabrication is underway around the world, and the first completed components will be delivered to the site in 2014.

For the seven ITER Members, it was the occasion to reiterate at a high level the common effort towards the realization of ITER and to reaffirm the importance of fusion and the role of ITER in the current energy context.

The meeting was convened at the initiative of Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner in charge of Energy and representative of the European Atomic Energy Community. Representing France as Host to the ITER Project was French Minister of Higher Education and Research, Geneviève Fioraso. For both dignitaries, it was their second visit to ITER this year (see Newsline's report on the inauguration of the ITER Headquarters in January).

Commissioner Oettinger, Minister Fioraso and ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima were joined by Ministerial-level representatives from each ITER Member (see box below). First on the official program was a site tour that brought the guests within metres of the impressive Seismic Pit where work is underway on the foundations for the Tokamak Complex—the infrastructure that will house the ITER Tokamak.

The Heads of Delegation from the ITER Members were as follows: Jianlin Cao, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology (China); Robert-Jan Smits, Director-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission (Europe); Ravi Bhushan Grover, Member of the Atomic Energy Commission and Director of the Homi Bhabha National Institute (India); Teru Fukui, Senior Vice-Minister, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan); Sung Kwang Yang, Assistant Minister for Future Leading R&D Policy, Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (MSIP) (Korea); Igor Borovkov, Head of Apparatus, Government of the Russian Federation (Russia); Edmund Synakowski, Associate Director for Fusion Energy Sciences, Office of Science, Department of Energy (USA)
Before the official photograph, Commissioner Oettinger welcomed all the participants. "I think it is important to hold this type of high-level meeting to talk about the problems we encounter and discuss our common challenges," he affirmed.

"We are so excited to have so many important guests today," declared ITER Director-General Motojima to the 40 or so members of the press that had joined the tour. "We are happy to show the spectacular construction progress achieved in the past couple of years and would like to express our gratitude for the confidence shown to the Unique ITER team by the Members."

The ITER Council Ministerial-Level Meeting was opened by Council Chair Hideyuki Takatsu. Then, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Council, Commissioner Oettinger was elected as Chair for the duration of the meeting. In his opening address, he told the Members that he was "...glad to note that important steps have been taken towards strengthening the working relations between the ITER Organization and the seven Domestic Agencies."

On behalf of the Host State, Minister Fioraso also delivered words of welcome to the assembly, including many journalists, stressing that for France, "ITER represents a unique and outstanding project ... the broadest international cooperation for research ever implemented."

All photos © ITER-Organization - Gérard Lesénéchal

Read more on the outcome of the Ministerial-Level Meeting in the press release (English or French).

See the photo gallery of the event here.

Watch a video of the Ministerial-Level Meeting here. 

http://www.iter.org/newsline/280/1695-ITER Communication
When he came to ITER on 17 January 2013, European Commissioner for Energy Günther H. Oettinger took a solitary stroll into the Tokamak Pit, away from officials and the media, touching the smooth concrete of the seismic plinths as if to assess the reality of the Project and the "impressive amount of work" that had already gone into ITER construction.

Last Friday, 6 September, the plinths and seismic pads were no longer visible. Formwork and rebar for the B2 slab—the actual floor of the Tokamak Complex—hid them from view and made strolling impossible. As one newspaper article pointed out the following day, "the ITER Tokamak Pit now looks like a conventional worksite."

As Commissioner Oettinger stood with other invited guests at the edge of the Seismic Pit, however, the view was striking: the large circular rebar at the centre of the Pit where the 23,000-ton machine will sit; the towering walls; the forest of rebar that is going up on either side for the Tritium and Diagnostic buildings.

"This is a historical undertaking," said the Commissioner, addressing the media. "Our visit here is sending a clear, positive message to all those working for ITER."

The Commissioner stressed the progress that has been made to date, adding, "Our Project is now well into the Construction Phase. I'm convinced that our success will grow..."

During the ITER Council Ministerial-Level Meeting that took place minutes later in the Council Chamber on the fifth floor of Headquarters, the Commissioner sought to "personally thank ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima and his staff for the remarkable work that we were able to witness on our tour of the site."

The Commissioner also mentioned the "many positive developments for which the ITER Organization and the ITER Members should be commended."

At the press conference that followed the meeting, Commissioner Oettinger insisted once again on the historical, one-of-a-kind nature of the Project, adding that he, as well as all the ITER Members, acknowledged the inherent challenges, notably as regards schedule and cost containment.

http://www.iter.org/newsline/280/1690
Geneviève Fioraso, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research, speaks of ITER with passion. In interviews with the media or in addressing her ministerial colleagues, her words are strong and her tone enthusiastic.

"The huge, amazing amount of work" that is going into ITER impressed her no less last Friday than it did on her first visit to ITER on 17 January 2013, when she came to Saint Paul-lez-Durance to inaugurate the ITER Headquarters building alongside European Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger.

She sees ITER for what it is today: "A unique and outstanding project, the broadest international cooperation for research ever implemented." But she also sees beyond, as she stated in an interview to French public TV France 3, asserting that ITER and fusion are "the solution to what I consider the largest challenge of this century—providing energy that is environmentally responsible, that does not generate carbon dioxide like the fossil fuels we are tapping today."

The minister also reaffirmed that France, as Host Country, is "fully committed to ITER" and she formally announced to her ministerial colleagues that "France [had] achieved all of its commitments within budget and schedule."

Her last words, as she stepped into her car to leave ITER Headquarters, were: "You can be absolutely confident in the support of the French government."

http://www.iter.org/newsline/280/1694
They said it in different words and they said it in different languages. But it all came down to the same message: ITER is complex, ITER is challenging, but we need ITER and we are confident in its success.

The press conference that followed the Ministerial-Level Meeting gave European Commissioner Oettinger, ITER Director-General Motojima and every Head of Delegation an opportunity to put ITER into context and explain the challenges the project is facing.

All agreed that, in the words of one Head of Delegation, "witnessing the progress of construction as we did this morning is an important element in understanding and assessing the Project."

The press conference was attended by some twenty different media, among them TV crews from France, Russia and Korea (approximately 40 journalists in all). Newspaper headlines the next day were exceptionally positive—in the spirit of this banner on the front page of the area's regional daily La Provence: "World unites around ITER."

http://www.iter.org/newsline/280/1693
The manufacturing of ITER components is underway in factories all around the world.

This short video, presented by ITER Director-General Motojima to the representatives of the seven ITER Members, took the guests to the locations where action is happening ... to superconductor production lines, to vacuum vessel welding trials and to a newly built test facility where the plasma-facing components are exposed to extreme heat loads.

Fasten your seatbelt for a three-minute voyage around the world ...


http://www.iter.org/newsline/280/1689-ITER Communication
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