DG Motojima addresses all ITER staff
30 Jul 2010
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Sabina Griffith
A big tent was needed to house the more than 700 people that form the ITER team in Cadarache.
Not even 24 hours had passed since he had signed his contract when Osamu Motojima, the new Director-General of the ITER Organization addressed his team - by now counting more than 700 people. In his address he thanked his predecessor Kaname Ikeda for his contribution to the project and especially for finalizing the Baseline that was approved yesterday at an extraordinary meeting of the ITER Council.
Simplicity is Osamu Motojima's recipe for reorganizing the ITER Organization.
A fusion scientist himself, DG Motojima said he was very proud to lead the ITER project, but that he was also aware of the huge responsibility he had undertaken. "The world is watching us," he said. "The role of the ITER project is very important in order to show that fusion energy is an achievable goal."
After his inaugural address, the new DG answered a number of questions from the staff.
In his inaugural address, he also introduced the new management structure of the Organization and his strategy for cost containment, following a request by the ITER Members. His recipe to meet cost containment goals? Simplicity.