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FR
ITER Baseline

STAC committee endorses ITER research plans

2 Jun 2025 - Alberto Loarte, Head of the Science Division

At its 32nd meeting in May, the ITER Council Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) reviewed the fully detailed version of the ITER Research Plan as well as associated blueprints for magnet coil testing and the development of ITER’s neutral beam injection heating system. 

Members of the ITER Council Science and Technology Advisory Committee during their 32nd meeting, 14-16 May 2025, at ITER headquarters.

Two documents outline how the ITER project plans to achieve its mission and goals—the ITER Baseline, which details the scope, schedule, cost and risk of the project, and the ITER Research Plan, which is the document that guides the commissioning and experimental exploitation of the ITER device once construction is complete. The documents are closely linked, meaning that changes to one must be reflected in the other.

For three days in May, the participants to STAC-32 reviewed the latest comprehensive version of the ITER Research Plan, which reflects the commissioning and operation plans of Baseline 2024. They congratulated the ITER Organization and the ITER Members for developing the plan down to a considerable level of detail that also includes, as annexes, plans for the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility, where ITER neutral beam injection is being tested in advance of operation, and plans for research in the Test Blanket Module Program, where ITER will experiment with tritium production inside the vacuum vessel. Following its review, STAC endorsed the ITER Research Plan and noted that the ITER Organization and the ITER Members’ experimental, theory and modelling programs have made considerable progress in helping the research plan to mature.

STAC members visiting the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) in Padua, Italy, in May 2025. The NBTF Research Plan, which is designed to address any remaining challenges on the road to achieving ITER requirements for neutral beam injection, was endorsed by the 32nd meeting of the STAC.

STAC-32 also reviewed the plans for the cold testing of ITER magnets on the Magnet Cold Test Facility test bench, whose assembly is progressing well at ITER. Integrated commissioning is expected to start in September 2025, with the facility ready for testing by December 2025.

The last topic reviewed by STAC members was the plan for neutral beam injection at ITER, including the research plan of the Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF). To facilitate their review and to inform STAC members on the latest progress, a group had visited the test facility in Padua, Italy, on 12 May before the start of the STAC-32 meeting at ITER. During in-depth discussions with members of the team there, they learned about the latest successful tests and visited the test stands that are part of the facility. The NBTF Research Plan was formally endorsed by STAC-32.

A report from the STAC committee will now be made to the ITER Council, which meets later this month on 18 and 19 June.

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