FPN10-13
ITER Update
March 2, 2010
The ITER schedule and resource estimates (i.e., cost) have been under
review for about the past two years. In June 2008, the ITER Council
approved a two-year slip in first operations, from 2016 to 2018. First
DT fusion plasma would be produced in 2023. At the Council meeting in
June 2009, the 2018 date was kept but a further slippage in schedule was
approved for DT operations until 2026. At the November 2009 ITER Council
meeting, some ITER partners, notably the European Union, proposed a
further schedule slippage in ITER first operations but some of the other
partners objected, resulting in a request for further analysis. At a
February 23-24 meeting of "ITER Heads of Delegations" the results of
that analysis were presented and will be further commented on by the
ITER Management Advisory Committee, which meets in mid-March. A final
decision on the schedule is expected at the June 2010 meeting of the
ITER Council.
Uncertainty in the ITER schedule, which partly is the result of design
changes, is also affecting estimates of costs to the ITER partners. In
the U.S., for example, ITER costs are now given as a "range" between
$1.4 billion to $2.2 billion (compared to an original estimate of $1
billion). A recent review of U.S cost estimates by a Department of
Energy panel said the likely cost to the U.S. would likely be at or near
the upper end of the range. In view of the uncertainties in ITER cost
and schedule, the President’s budget for FY 2011 cut DOE’s request for
ITER funding from $135 million in FY 2010 to only $80 million in FY
2011. Currently, the U.S. is on track to have spent only $471 million on
ITER through the end of FY 2010 of the likely total $2.2 billion
required to complete ITER construction.
Links to further information are posted at
http://fire.pppl.gov