US	  National	  Academy	  of	  Sciences	  Committee	  on	  Burning	  Plasma	  Meeting:	  29	  August	  2017	  	  Remarks	  	  Thank	   you	   very	   much	   for	   this	   opportunity	   to	   meet	   with	   your	   committee	  and	   for	   your	   interest	   in	   the	   ITER	   Project.	   I	   am	   happy	   to	   participate	   to	   this	  meeting	  jointly	  with	  Dr.	  Ned	  Sauthoff,	  illustrating	  perfectly	  that	  we	  now	  work	  in	   the	   most	   integrated	   way	   between	   the	   ITER	   Organization	   as	   Project	   Leader	  and	  the	  Domestic	  Agencies	  which	  are	  in	  charge	  to	  procure	  in-­‐kind	  90%	  of	  the	  value	   of	   the	   construction.	   We	   are	   pleased	   to	   offer	   you	   a	   few	   thoughts	  regarding	   the	   value	   of	   the	   ITER	   Project	   and—in	   particular—its	   relevance	   to	   the	  U.S.	   objective	   of	   achieving	   a	   burning	   plasma	   and	   to	   the	   U.S.	   goal	   of	   developing	  innovation	   in	   all	   the	   critical	   technologies	   ITER	   requires	   and	   preparing	   its	  industrial	   champions	   to	   successfully	   compete	   in	   the	   world	   market.	   I	   deeply	  believe	  that	  it	  is	  worth	  it	  for	  the	  science	  community	  as	  well	  as	  for	  the	  whole	  of	  humanity	   to	   understand	   whether	   magnetically	   confined	   fusion	   plasma	   works	  and	  whether	  we	  could	  rely	  on	  it	  for	  part	  of	  the	  world	  sustainable	  energy	  supply	  in	  the	  future—I	  mean	  for	  many	  centuries	  and	  millennia.	  	  As	   you	   know,	   world	   energy	   supply	   is	   already	   a	   critical	   issue	   for	   some	  countries	   and	   I	   do	   believe	   it	   will	   be	   for	   all,	   not	   today,	   but	   over	   the	   medium-­‐	  and	  long-­‐term.	  Regardless	  of	  background,	  every	  energy	  expert	  agrees	  on	  one	  thing—that	  our	  current	  global	  pattern	  of	  energy	  usage	  will	  not	  be	  sustainable	  before	  the	  end	  of	  this	  century.	  	  	  This	   means	   we	   need	   innovative	   alternatives.	   Fusion	   is	   one	   important	  option	  we	  need	  to	  assess.	  	  1	  	  	  To	   achieve	   the	   practical	   application	   of	   fusion-­‐generated	   electricity,	   we	  know	   there	   are	   several	   possible	   approaches.	   We	   have	   chosen	   magnetic	  confinement.	   It	   is	   clear	   for	   me	   that	   this	   approach	   offers	   the	   most	   promising	  possibilities	  and	  has—by	  far	  presently—	  the	  best	  basis	  in	  research.	  	  	  To	  achieve	  a	  burning	  plasma	  with	  magnetic	  confinement	  fusion,	  there	  is	  no	   alternative	   to	   a	   large	   facility	   that	   integrates	   multiple	   advanced	  technologies.	   Superconducting	   electro-­‐magnets.	   Extensive	   use	   of	   vacuum	  systems.	  Complex	  cryogenics.	  A	  broad	  range	  of	  high	  performance	  diagnostics.	  
Remote	  handling	  and	  robotics,	  with	  massive	  size	  and	  weight	  capacity,	  coupled	  with	  ultra-­‐precise	  tolerances.	  	  	  It	  is	  in	  this	  context	  that	  ITER	  offers	  the	  best	  added	  value	  with	  its	  unique	  international	   collaboration	   arrangement.	   No	   country	   has	   the	   combination	   of	  scientific	   and	   engineering	   expertise,	   industrial	   capacity,	   workforce,	   financial	  resources	   and	   long-­‐term	   political	   will,	   to	   undertake	   such	   a	   project	   alone	   in	   a	  reasonable	  time.	  	  	  International	   cooperation	   is	   therefore	   a	   pre-­‐requisite	   for	   success.	   ITER	  offers	   a	   unique	   framework	   for	   fair	   cooperation.	   Each	   ITER	   Member	   supplies	   its	  best	  expertise;	  and	  each	  ITER	  Member	  receives	  the	  full	  know-­‐how.	  	  This	   large	   international	   cooperation	   is	   also	   a	   challenge	   to	   align	   the	  diversity	   of	   culture,	   expertise,	   and	   ways	   of	   working.	   With	   this	   degree	   of	  technical	   complexity,	   international	   cooperation	   demands	   an	   exceptional	   level	  of	  management	  performance.	  We	  have	  learned	  a	  lot	  from	  our	  initial	  errors	  and	  2	  	  from	  other	  complex	  international	  science	  and	  technology	  projects:	  I	  have	  two	  examples	   in	   mind	   where	   the	   US	   is	   participating	   as	   a	   leader	   or	   a	   key	   player,	  CERN	   in	   high	   energy	   particle	   physics	   and	   the	   International	   Space	   Station	   in	  space	  discovery	  and	  earth	  observation.	  	  	  We	  all	  know	  that	  ITER	  did	  not	  start	  out	  on	  the	  best	  footing.	  But	  we	  have	  been	   reactive,	   in	   a	   positive	   way,	   to	   external	   scrutiny—including,	   notably,	   the	  appropriate	  and	  very	  helpful	  influence	  of	  a	  U.S.-­‐led	  audit	  in	  2013—which	  led	  to	  my	   appointment	   2½	   years	   ago,	   and	   to	   broad	   organizational	   reform.	   We	   have	  accepted	  these	  external	  recommendations,	  and	  put	  solutions	  in	  place.	  We	  are	  now	   working	   in	   a	   fully	   integrated	   way,	   with	   effective	   decision-­‐making,	   a	  reliable	   schedule	   after	   a	   thorough	   project	   review,	   and	   sustained	   success	   in	  meeting	  agreed	  project	  milestones.	  	  To	   put	   it	   simply:	   I	   consider	   that	   the	   future	   of	   fusion—like	   the	   future	   of	  science—is	   partnership.	   The	   ITER	   Project	   is	   built	   on	   this	   condition:	   if	   our	  partnerships	  perform	  well,	  each	  partner	  contributes	  its	  expertise	  they	  commit	  themselves,	  we	  each	  learn	  from	  each	  other,	  the	  interfaces	  are	  well-­‐managed,	  the	  project	  succeeds,	  and	  everyone	  wins.	  	  	  A	  critical	  outcome	  of	  this	  success	  is	  for	  each	  country	  to	  properly	  articulate	  the	   benefits	   of	   ITER	   in	   the	   context	   of	   its	   domestic	   fusion	   program.	   I	   strongly	  advocate	   for	   every	   ITER	   Member	   not	   to	   place	   its	   domestic	   program	   in	  opposition	   to	   international	   cooperation	   with	   ITER.	   China,	   for	   example,	   has	  enthusiastically	   embraced	   this	   aspect—incorporating	   ITER	   R&D	   into	   the	  Chinese	   national	   fusion	   program,	   in	   parallel	   with	   their	   experimental	   program	  at	   the	   EAST	   tokamak,	   and	   a	   national	   R&D	   roadmap	   that	   leads	   through	   a	  3	  	  industrial	   fusion	  reactor—with	   strong	   support	   at	   the	  highest	   political	  level	  and	  across	   the	   domestic	   fusion	   science	   community.	   I	   could	   say	   the	   same	   about	  Japan,	  Russia,	  and	  the	  European	  Union.	  	  In	  my	  view,	  this	  context	  highlights	  the	  value	  of	  your	  work	  under	  the	  U.S.	  
National	   Academy	   of	   Science.	   I	   sincerely	   thank	   you	   for	   the	   time	   and	   effort	   you	  are	  putting	  into	  this	  study.	  A	  clearly	  articulated	  U.S.	  domestic	  fusion	  program	  will—in	   my	   view—be	   of	   great	   benefit	   both	   to	   the	   U.S.	   and	   to	   the	   global	  research	  community.	  	  	  	  4