Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • ITER Design Handbook | Preserving the vital legacy of ITER

    The contributions that ITER is making to fusion physics and engineering—through decades of decisions and implementation—are delivering insights to the fusion co [...]

    Read more

  • Electron cyclotron heating | Aligning technology and physics

    ITER, like other fusion devices, will rely on a mix of external heating technologies to bring the plasma to the temperature necessary for fusion. At a five-day [...]

    Read more

  • Poloidal field magnets | The last ring

    As the massive ring-shaped coil inched its way from the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility, where it was manufactured, to the storage facility nearby where i [...]

    Read more

  • Heat rejection | White "smoke" brings good news

    Like a plume of white smoke rising from a cardinals' conclave to announce the election of a new pope, the tenuous vapour coming from one of the ITER cooling cel [...]

    Read more

  • WEC 2024 | Energy on centre stage

    The global players in the energy sector convened in Rotterdam last week for the 26th edition of the World Energy Congress (WEC). The venue was well chosen, wit [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Live from the Pit

Despite a sore throat that made her voice hoarse, French Minister Fioraso gave a live interview to regional TV with the Seismic Pit as a backdrop. (Click to view larger version...)
Despite a sore throat that made her voice hoarse, French Minister Fioraso gave a live interview to regional TV with the Seismic Pit as a backdrop.
Another few weeks and it would have been too late: as formwork on the Tokamak basemat is set to begin, the site visit that was organized last Thursday for the European Commissioner for Energy, the French Minister of Research, guests and the media provided one of the last opportunities to take in the spectacular setting of the Tokamak Seismic Pit, open to the sky.

Knowingly or unknowingly, the visitors all made the best of the outing. Despite a sore throat that made her voice hoarse, French Minister Fioraso gave a live interview to regional TV with the Seismic Pit as a backdrop. Commissioner Oettinger, deliberately walking ahead of the group of officials, took a solitary stroll through the 493 plinths and seismic pads, closely examining the concrete finish of the columns and the rubber and steel bearings.

Commissioner Oettinger, deliberately walking ahead of the group of officials, took a solitary stroll through the 493 plinths and seismic pads, closely examining the concrete finish of the columns and the rubber and steel bearings. (Click to view larger version...)
Commissioner Oettinger, deliberately walking ahead of the group of officials, took a solitary stroll through the 493 plinths and seismic pads, closely examining the concrete finish of the columns and the rubber and steel bearings.
As for the press, it was a rare occasion to have the main ITER actors, both international and local, gathered in one place: the European Commissioner, the French Minister, the ITER Director-General, the High Representative for ITER in France Bernard Bigot, Agence Iter France and Fusion for Energy officials, and local contributors to the project. All were available for questioning and visibly enjoyed answering media requests despite the brisk January wind.

The power of attraction of the ITER work site is such that additional tours had to be organized later in the afternoon for members of the diplomatic corps, photographers and cameramen. The latter were particularly satisfied: it is in the late afternoon winter light that the ITER work site is at its best.

Watch the live interview of Minister Fioraso on France 3 regional TV here (begins at 4'26'').

return to the latest published articles