ITER NEWSLINE
22
Iris Rona
In charge of Finance and Budget: Hans Spoor.
Taking a break for the photographer: the Tritium Plant Project Team. Though Hans Spoor never was a schoolteacher, he often uses the impressive blackboard that dominates his office to explain the importance of good budgeting in a couple of chalk strokes. Hans officially joined ITER on 1 March as Head of the Finance and Budget Division. In this role he will be responsible for financial management and accounting of ITER, budgeting, financial planning and resources, expenditures, annual accounts and auditing.
Hans certainly is no newcomer in the world of fusion. Although he is an accountant by education, he has worked in fusion, one way or another, for the last three decades. Hans joined JET as internal auditor in 1979 and later became Head of Finance from 1989 to 1993. Thereafter he moved to Brussels, where he was Head of Administration and Finance of the Fusion Division of EURATOM, between 1993 to 2004. In 2004 he joined the Directorate of International Cooperation in DG RTD (Research and Technological Development) at the European Commission as Head of Administration and Finance, overseeing the administration of international research activities.
His heart kept on going out to fusion though and when ITER, a project Hans had been following since the early days, finally became reality, being part of it was a challenge he willingly accepted. "I am a true believer in fusion energy as one of the potential solutions of the growing energy problems of this world. Helping the ITER project be successful in contributing to this is something I really look forward to doing."
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