Contact:
Laban Coblentz
Laban.Coblentz@iter.org+33 4 42 17 66 17

ITER Project progressing well despite delays

SAINT PAUL-LEZ-DURANCE, France (19 November 2015). At its Seventeenth Meeting (IC17), held on 18-19 November 2015, the ITER Council reviewed the progress made by the ITER
Organization Central Team (IO-CT) and the Members’ Domestic Agencies (IO-DAs). TheCouncil gave particular attention to the results achieved under the leadership of the new
Director-General in transitioning from the ITER design and early construction phase to fullconstruction.
The ITER Council recognized the extensive efforts made by the Director-General, the new
management team, and the Domestic Agencies during the past eight months to improve the project
culture. Joint IO-CT and IO-DA project teams have been created in areas of critical importance. TheITER Organization has conducted an in-depth bottom-up review and analysis of all aspects ofmanufacturing and assembling the ITER systems, structures and components through the completionof construction, assembly and commissioning. The Council acknowledged the much-improved
understanding of the scope, sequencing, risks, and costs of the ITER Project achieved by thissystematic and integrated analysis and review, resulting in an overall schedule through First Plasma.
The ITER Council approved a schedule and milestones covering 2016-2017, and decided to conduct an
independent review of the overall schedule and associated resources and to consider possible additional
measures for expediting the schedule and reducing costs. The Council plans to complete these reviews
and reach agreement on the overall schedule through First Plasma by June 2016.
The Council said it would monitor closely the performance of the ITER Organization and Domestic
Agencies in meeting the 2016-2017 milestones. The Council approved the re-allocation of the necessary
funding, over a period of two years, to enable adherence to these milestones.
The Council recognized, with appreciation, the tangible progress made during the past eight months on
construction and component manufacturing.
 This included, for example, construction progress made onsite by the European Domestic
Agency, with the completion of the framing of the Assembly Hall and the platform for the firstlevel of the Tokamak – as well as progress on magnets, neutral beam injector, remote handling,and other ITER components.
 India has completed the fabrication, pre-assembly, and shipment of the initial components of
the ITER cryostat, for subsequent assembly in the already completed cryostat building onsite, aswell as the first cooling water piping for ITER’s chilled water and heat rejection systems.
 Four US-procured 400kV transformers have been shipped and installed onsite, and the USprocured drain tanks for the cooling water and neutral beam systems have arrived onsite as well.
 China has completed the manufacturing and testing of the first batch of pulsed power electrical
network equipment, and has reached qualification milestones in the manufacturing of magnet
feeders, correction coils, and the blanket first wall.

Japan has started the series production of the toroidal field coils. Full-tungsten prototypes ofplasma-facing components for the ITER divertor have been manufactured and shipped, andrequired performance for ITER has been demonstrated.
Russia has fully met its obligations for delivery of superconductor cable for ITER magnets. At
Russia’s Divertor Test facility, high heat flux testing is also underway for divertor plasma-facing
components from Japan, Europe, and Russia. Beryllium fabrication has begun, and the gyrotron
complex prototype facility has passed its acceptance tests.
In Korea, manufacturing is ongoing for the ITER vacuum vessel and thermal shield, and design
milestones have been achieved for many of the purpose-built tools ITER will need for
assembly.

The Council took note, in particular, of the completion of superconductor production, which has beena coordinated effort involving laboratories and companies of ITER Members in 12 countries, withassociated advances in niobium-tin materials science and the multinational harmonization of design
attributes, production standards, quality assurance measures, and testing protocols. The Council
recognized the substantial benefit this will create for all ITER Members, positively impacting thecapacity for cross-border trade and innovation not only in energy industries but also in fields such as
medical imaging and transportation applications.
The Council commended the ITER Organization on its progress and the evidence of renewed
commitment.
BACKGROUND TO THE PRESS RELEASE
ITER—designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power—will be the world's
largest experimental fusion facility. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars: when light atomic
nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released. Fusion research is aimed atdeveloping a safe, abundant and environmentally responsible energy source.
ITER is also a first-of-a-kind global collaboration. Europe is contributing almost half of the costs of its
construction, while the other six Members to this joint international venture (China, India, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, the Russian Federation and the USA), are contributing equally to the rest. The ITER Project is underconstruction in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, in the south of France.
For more information on the ITER Project, visit: http://www.iter.org/Page 2