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

  • Portfolio | Sector repair has started

    Built up against vacuum vessel sector #7, the scaffolding reaches almost 20 metres in height and masks the massive component. Streaks of blinding light, filtere [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion world | Public/private consortium is building the DTT tokamak

    The Divertor Test Tokamak in Italy is creating a new model for engagement with industry in fusion research. ITER helped to pave the way. The Divertor Test Tokam [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | An architectural paradox

    There is something deliberately paradoxical in the architectural treatment of the ITER buildings. On the one hand, the alternation between the mirror-like stai [...]

    Read more

  • Former French Prime Minister | A fan then and now

    For Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Prime Minister of France (2002-2005) who visited ITER on Friday 15 March, touring the ITER installation with ITER Director-Gene [...]

    Read more

  • CARE at ITER | New project values launched

    Collaboration, Accountability, Respect and Excellence drive the future of fusion for a diverse staff. When Pietro Barabaschi joined as ITER Director-General to [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

Fat check to compensate for power line visual impact

As ''compensation'' for the implantation, within city limits, of the 400kV power line that feeds the ITER switchyard, the village of Saint-Paul-lez-Durance received a EUR 900,000 check from French electricity carrier RTE. Mayor Pizot decided to split it with neighbouring Vinon-sur-Verdon. (Click to view larger version...)
As ''compensation'' for the implantation, within city limits, of the 400kV power line that feeds the ITER switchyard, the village of Saint-Paul-lez-Durance received a EUR 900,000 check from French electricity carrier RTE. Mayor Pizot decided to split it with neighbouring Vinon-sur-Verdon.
ITER's economic impact on neighbouring villages was felt with a certain intensity, on Wednesday 23 January, as representatives from France's electricity carrier RTE presented Mayor Roger Pizot of Saint-Paul-lez-Durance with a EUR 900,000 check.

The money was intended as "compensation" for the implantation, within city limits, of the 400kV power line that feeds the ITER switchyard. As required by French law, the compensation must represent 10 percent of the cost of the power line works (EUR 9 million)—quite a sum for a village whose annual budget does not exceed EUR 5 million.

However Mayor Pizot considered that, as neighbouring Vinon-sur-Verdon had also been impacted by the power line (at least visually), it was only fair to split the sum with his colleague Claude Cheilan, the Mayor of Vinon.

Installing and financing the four-hectare ITER switchyard and 400 kV power-line extension was part of France's commitment to ITER. Agence Iter France contributed 70% of the total cost (EUR 31 million); the remainder was paid by France's electricity carrier Réseau de Transport d'Électricité.
In both villages, the money was soundly invested. In Saint-Paul (pop. 992), the village council decided to modernize the village's street lighting in order to reduce the municipality's electricity bill, renew the equipment of Saint-Paul's public park, and also attribute EUR 50,000 to the local association that is in the process of renovating the 16th century pigeon tower located near the Château de Cadarache. The village of Vinon (pop. 4,100) will use the compensation money to create a much-needed pedestrian and bicycle passageway that will run along the present bridge over the Verdon River.

The official ceremony held last week in Saint-Paul's town hall was also the occasion for the sous-préfet of Aix-en-Provence, representing the French government, to insist on the importance of the ITER-induced economic benefits for the region. "Since the beginning of works on the ITER site," Yves Lucchesi reminded the audience, "more than EUR 620 million in contracts have been attributed to companies based in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region."


return to the latest published articles