ITER opens its doors to the public

It was the first time since the start of construction works that ITER opened its doors to the public but, considering the success of the operation, it will not be the last.

Last Saturday 15 October, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., 25 buses transported close to 800 people onto the ITER platform to show them just how quickly ITER is becoming reality. Through advertisement on the French website for ITER and a poster campaign in nearby villages, local residents had been invited to register for a one-hour, free bus tour of the ITER site.

Tours were led by ITER Communication, Agence Iter France, ENGAGE representatives and ITER staff. Visitors had a close-up look at the near-finished Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility, the "forest" of pylons in the switchyard that will receive power from the French grid, and the 17-metre deep Tokamak Pit which will house the future ITER fusion device and where foundation work is currently under way. After a stop at the Visitors Centre for a group picture, the bus continued to the five-storey ITER Headquarters building that, when finished next summer, will house 500 ITER employees.

 

"People from the local area want to know what we are doing here and why," says ITER Communication Head Michel Claessens, "and it is our job to be as welcoming and transparent as possible. It's important to open our doors to the public so that our neighbors can receive answers to their questions and form their own opinion about the ITER Project."