Following months of design changes reviews, the ITER Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), chaired by India's Predhiman Kaw, endorsed the changes proposed by the ITER Organization. These changes are being incorporated into a final ITER design that will be put to the ITER Council for approval at its June meeting. The ITER Organization also plans to present revised Overall Project Cost and Overall Project Schedule documents to the ITER Council for approval.

The ITER Headquarters Agreement between the ITER Organization and the French Government has been signed and is now in force. This Agreement sets out the terms of cooperation between the ITER Organization and the French authorities, in particular for compliance with French regulations with respect to public safety and security, environmental protection, nuclear safety and radiological protection.

The European Union's ITER Domestic Agency has issued a call for tenders for its first major ITER procurement: to supply Chromium-plated Copper strand that forms part of the ITER superconducting magnets. Plans of the ITER Organization are well along to finalize the Vacuum Vessel Procurement Arrangement by June 30. The Vacuum Vessel is believed to be on the "critical path" of the ITER construction schedule.

ITER Director General Kaname Ikeda has accepted an invitation from Fusion Power Associates (FPA) to speak at the FPA annual meeting and symposium, "Fusion Energy: Countdown to Ignition and Gain," to be held December 3-4 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.