EN
29.9.2023
Official Journal of the European Union
L 242/541
General
1.
Welcomes the fact that that the report of the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) on the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year of 2021 (the ‘Court’s report’) finds the annual accounts to present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position on 31 December 2021 and the results of its operations, its cash flows, and the changes in net assets for the financial year 2021, in accordance with its financial rules and with the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer; highlights, in addition, the fact that the underlying transitions to the accounts for the financial year 2021 are, in all material respects, legal and regular;
2.
Regrets, however, that the Court’s report draws attention to the fact that the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2021 disclose the Joint Undertaking’s estimate of the total cost for completing its delivery obligations for the ITER project, assessed at EUR 18,3 billion (in 2021 values) and to the fact that changes in key assumptions for the estimate and risk exposure could lead to significant increases in costs and/or to further delays in the implementation of the ITER project;
3.
Acknowledges that Horizon Europe envisages ambitious goals for the Joint Undertaking, that can be achieved only if effective solutions that address the weaknesses in the internal control systems and prepare for the future challenges arising from increased responsibilities, such as in the area of human resources management and planning, are designed and implemented; points out, in this context, that particularly complicated and burdensome calculations and reporting requirements represent a significant risk of error and calls therefore, to explore the possibilities of simplifications wherever possible and compatible with the existing legal framework;
4.
Notes with concern the fact that since Russia is a member of ITER-IO, with the obligations to deliver to the ITER assembly site in France (Cadarache), several components for the ITER projects and to provide annual contributions to the ITER-IO, represents a risk of further delays and increased costs for the ITER project;
5.
Notes that the Joint Undertaking maintains an estimate of the total costs of completing its delivery obligations for the ITER project (estimate at completion), which includes the costs of the construction and operational phase until 2035, as well as the decommissioning and deactivation phase until 2042; notes, moreover, that at the end of 2021, the Joint Undertaking assessed this total cost at EUR 18,3 billion (in 2021 values), consisting of the total payments made at the end of 2021, amounting to EUR 8,3 billion and the estimate of the future payments, assessed at EUR 10 billion (in 2021 values);
6.
Points out that changes in key assumptions for the above estimate and risk exposure may lead to further cost increases and projects delays and, for 2021, considers that, based on the Court’s report, special attention should be paid to the events that may have a significant impact on the estimate at completion; further, points out that those key assumptions include the new baseline for the ITER project planned for the first quarter of 2023, the late delivery of components, the sanctions imposed on Russia, the ongoing approval of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (NSA) for the assembly of the components of the tokamak pit and the expected revision of the cost estimate for the Hot Cell Complex; underlines the fact that, in the event of delivery problems resulting in the lack of crucial components for the continuation of the project, alternative supply streams should be explored;
7.
Recalls that ITER officially expects a first operational test in 2025 and the achievement of full fusion power by 2035; observes, however, that this baseline was adopted in 2016, and that, since then, construction and manufacturing delays and the COVID-19 pandemic have made the 2025 date increasingly unlikely; underlines, in addition, that, according to the Court’s report, there is a risk of further delay due to a combination of different construction starting from problems welding the vacuum vessel sections that form the steel chamber in which the fusion experiments will take place to the problem of corrosion causing cracks up to 2,2 millimetres deep on the thermal shield panels, affecting all 23 kilometres of cooling pipes welded to the component surface; notes that, due to the fact that the crack issue in the cooling pipes could be systemic, affecting all thermal shield components of tokamak, the new direction of ITER activates a repair strategy for the tokamak’s thermal shield panels and vacuum vessel sectors;