Contact:
Laban Coblentz
Laban.Coblentz@iter.org+33 6 14 16 40 85

ITER Council Review Group provides external validation of ITER Project progress
Paris, France (27 April 2016) – Convening for an Extraordinary Meeting, the ITER Council(IC) met in Paris to receive the assessment of the IC Independent Review Group (ICRG). The
ITER Council recognized that the findings of the ICRG report provide external validation
confirming that the Project is now going in the right direction, in a way that will allow for asound, realistic and detailed proposal for schedule and associated cost up to First Plasma to betabled for the next ITER Council (IC-18) in June 2016. The Council acknowledged the ongoingproject progress and reaffirmed Members’ common effort towards the successful completion of
the construction of ITER, which is an unprecedented international undertaking and a major
step on the path to the development of fusion energy.
The ITER Council appreciated the continuous ITER Project progress and commended theorganization for keeping to the schedule, with the achievement so far of ten of the 29 milestones for
2016-17 as defined by the ITER Council in November (IC-17).
The ITER Council reviewed the report of the ICRG and was pleased to note the following keyfindings:
The major restructuring is considered to have resulted in “substantial improvement in project
performance, a high degree of motivation, and considerable progress during the past 12months.”
The preparation of the ITER Organization and the Domestic Agencies on a new schedule andassociated resource estimate for the ITER Organization were found to be complete, thus
providing a good starting point for a revised schedule based on credible estimates of cost andhuman resources, taking into consideration the financial constraints of the Members and relying
on effective sharing of staff resources between the Domestic Agencies and the ITER
Organization.
The ongoing additional integration work being carried out by the ITER Organization and theDomestic Agencies further optimizes the schedule and its associated resources thus resulting in“better focus on the successful achievement of First Plasma.”
Regarding risk management: The “ITER Organization’s risk management approach,organization, and processes are maturing at a good pace.”
Regarding project culture: “The Director-General and his team are working successfully tocreate a project management culture at ITER.”
Improvements were noted in collaboration between the ITER Organization and the Domestic
Agencies, and “further strengthening” of these relationships in a “culture of collaboration” wasencouraged.

The ITER Council accepted the ICRG report and acknowledged findings of tangible, on-schedule
project performance. It acknowledged that with these converging elements a solid basis is now
emerging for the establishment of the Resource-Loaded Updated Integrated Schedule up to First
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Plasma and a high-level paper detailing the schedule from First Plasma to Deuterium-Tritium
Operation. The ITER Council charged the Director-General with completing the refinement of theschedule and associated resources presented at IC-17, following iterations with Domestic Agencies andtaking into account the recommendations of the ICRG report and the known constraints of theMembers, in time for submission to the ITER Council in June 2016 (IC-18).
The Council decided that the ICRG report be released immediately for the use of each Member’sGovernment.

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 at developing 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, theRepublic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA), are contributing equally to the rest. TheITER Project is under construction in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, in the south of France.
For more information on the ITER Project, visit: http://www.iter.org/2