ITER (pronounced as in "fitter") means "the way" in Latin. ITER is the experimental step between today’s studies of plasma physics and tomorrow's electricity-producing fusion power plants. It is based around a hydrogen plasma torus operating at over 100 million °C, and will produce 500 MW of fusion power. It is an international project involving The People's Republic of China, the European Union and Switzerland (represented by Euratom), India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, under the auspices of the IAEA. It is technically ready to start construction and the first plasma operation is expected in 2016. ITER is to be constructed in Europe, at Cadarache, near Aix-en-Provence, France. |
Cutaway of the ITER Tokamak |
This part of the web site describes the ITER design and its underlying physics basis, the research and development that gives confidence it can be made, the environmental footprint it makes, an assessment of costs for construction, operation and decommissioning, and further documentation.