Extraordinary ITER Council approves the project baseline

The meeting opened with a statement of Bernard Bigot, on behalf of Valérie Pecresse, French Research and Higher Education Minister and Pierre Lellouche, French State Secretary for European Affairs, stressing: “ It is an honour, and also a pleasure, to be able to give a warm welcome to the ITER Council, on the site of the construction of the reactor itself, at a decisive moment in the achievement of this ambitious scientific program, since we are at the start of the reactor construction phase”… adding that ITER is the example of what we are able to achieve when Europeans and international partners join forces.” 

The ITER Council unanimously approved the ITER baseline as presented by the ITER Organization, in particular, the Overall Project Schedule (OPS), and the Overall Project Cost (OPC) with a capping to foster cost containment.  

Regarding the ITER Project Schedule, the main milestone is to achieve the First Plasma in November 2019. The start of Deuterium-Tritium operation is planned for March 2027. The ITER Council however encouraged the ITER Organization to explore ways to optimize the schedule in order to begin Deuterium-Tritium operation in 2026, if possible.  

All delegations commended the ITER Organization and its Director-General, Kaname Ikeda, for the tremendous efforts made to be able to propose this full package of documents.  The ITER Council Chair, Evgeny Velikhov, stressed that “what we are achieving  here is to ensure not only the success of ITER but also the success of fusion”. 

Another important decision of this extraordinary meeting was the appointment of Prof. Osamu Motojima as new Director-General of the ITER Organization, from 28 July 2010. Kaname Ikeda, who has led the ITER Organization since November 2005, had earlier expressed his wish to resign at the moment the ITER baseline would be approved by the ITER Council. 

Osamu Motojima, a well-known and much respected figure in the field of fusion science in Japan and abroad, was formerly Director General of the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS). Prof. Motojima is an experienced leader of construction of tokamak like devices; the Large Helical Device (LHD) project was constructed under his leadership. 

The ITER Council approved the main management structure of the ITER Organization which was presented by Mr. Motojima. The new management structure will be effective as of 28 July 2010.  

BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS RELEASE 

ITER will be the world's largest experimental fusion facility and is designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power. ITER is also a first-of-a-kind global collaboration. Fusion is the process which powers the sun and the stars. When light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released. Fusion research is aimed at developing a safe, limitless and environmentally responsible energy source. The ITER project is sited at Cadarache in the South of France. Europe will contribute 45% costs of its construction, while the other six Members to this joint international venture: China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA will each contribute 9% of the costs. 

Further information at: www.iter.org

CONTACT

Pascale Amenc-Antoni/ Sabina Griffith
Pascale.Amenc-Antoni@iter.org/Sabina.Griffith@iter.org
Phone numbers: +33 (0)4 42 17 66 07/ +33 (0)4 42 17 66 17