ITER Director General Osamu Motojima recently issued the following message to the ITER staff:

"Dear all,

"Some very active weeks lie behind us and I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the major events that have occurred since. First of all, let me recap the outcome of the seventh meeting of the ITER Council that took place 17-18 November. To summarize the outcome, the Council charged us to continue and implement the cost containment exercise, to finalize the list of unapproved Additional Direct Investments (ADI) and to brush up the budget planning for the years 2011 to 2013. We have already committed ourselves intensively to these charges.

"Since the approval of the ITER Baseline in the Extraordinary Council Meeting in July of this year, the ITER Organization has focused its efforts on implementing this "roadmap" and also the new management structure. Concerning the Baseline, our top priority is to continue to avoid any slippage in the schedule and to optimize delivery of the design and components in six priority areas: magnet coil feeder, cryostat, vacuum vessel, central solenoid, TF coils and PF coils.

"We are also committed to ambitious cost containment actions within the IO and the Domestic Agencies. These will need to be reflected in the Work Breakdown Structure as soon as possible. A response to the budget cap of 7.3 Billion Euro (4700 kIUA) set by the extraordinary ITER Council, this goal cannot be realized without a strong collaboration and a good team spirit between the ITER Organization and its agencies. I take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues in the Domestic Agencies and the ITER Organization for the tremendous effort they are already making.

"Regarding the management structure, I reported on the progress made in the implementation of a new management structure--selecting each member of staff based on their excellence and professionalism--and on the necessary adjustments needed to finalize it. Through this effort, we will execute adequate measures to improve transparency in the operation of the project, and seek a more strategic approach to budgeting and planning. Then, on the 17 November, we celebrated the laying of the Foundation Stone for the future ITER Headquarters building - another landmark in the history of the ITER project. The fusion community, to which I have belonged for the past three decades, had long awaited that moment. Our closely nurtured dream has now become a tangible reality.

"In a little more than 18 months, we will move into this beautifully designed and fully functional building. This is the place where we, as a responsible Organization, will work as hard as we can to meet our deadlines and make ITER happen. This foundation stone will bear witness, for centuries to come, to this great human, scientific and technological adventure. Let me take this opportunity to re-iterate my gratitude for the profound support we have received so far from the seven ITER Members, the local governments and the people in this region. Thank you very much, merci!

"Finally, two weeks ago, we witnessed the premiere of a new conference series, the Monaco ITER International Fusion Energy Days, in short MIIFED. The ITER Organization and the Principality of Monaco share a common concern for the future of energy and the preservation of our planet's resources, and that is why we have joined our forces to focus on what is at stake with fusion and energy. The first MIIFED edition was already a big success. Representatives from each ITER Member told us that fusion energy is on their agenda for satisfying the energy demand in the second half of this century. The people living on this planet count on us, and it's now up to us to deliver!"

ITER Council Meeting

On 17-18 November, the ITER Council (IC), the Governing Body of the ITER Organization, convened for its seventh meeting. The meeting in Cadarache, France, brought together representatives of the seven ITER Members: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States under the chairmanship of Evgeny Velikhov (Russia) and an observer from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In recognition of his life-long contribution to ITER, a moment of silence was dedicated to Dr. Toshihide Tsunematsu, Vice-Chair of the ITER Council and Member of the Management Advisory Committee (MAC), who passed away in September.

ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima presented a status report of the ITER project. The project entered the Construction Phase immediately after the Baseline was approved at the extraordinary IC on July 28, 2010. This report included a new strategy for cost savings and cost containment.

The Council welcomed the actions taken by the Director-General since his appointment and commended the strong collaboration between the ITER Organization and the Domestic Agencies towards cost containment and cost savings. The ITER Council noted with approval the recent progress and pace of development within the ITER Organization. This includes extensive work at the ITER site and the placement of high-tech manufacturing contracts in all ITER Parties, including the Vacuum Vessel, which is a critical path component. In total, 46 procurement arrangements representing 60% on the total value of the project have been signed.

The Council encouraged further efforts by the ITER Organization and the Domestic Agencies to improve coordination and to reduce costs. The Council approved the Annual Work Plan and the Budget for 2011. The Chairs of the ITER Council and its subsidiary bodies were re-elected. ITER Council members and experts, Domestic Agency Heads, together with representatives of the local communities, celebrated the official start of construction of the Headquarters Building. On this historic occasion, the Chair of the ITER Council, Academician Evgeny Velikhov, stated "this is a very important moment in the history of ITER; it is the day our dream begins to take shape".

The Director-General emphasized: "We are now ready to bring a Sun to Cadarache. Work is now progressing on the platform and in the factories where ITER components are being manufactured. It is my duty to keep construction on schedule so that the First Plasma can be achieved before the end of the year 2019". The Director-General thanked the Host Party, European Union, represented by Mr. Robert-Jan Smits for its strong support.

The meetings of the ITER Council usually follow a stringent agenda. After the opening and before the Delegates come to discuss the heart of the matter, the Chairman goes around the table and asks the Heads of the seven Delegations for an opening statement., statements that this time all but confirmed the commitment of the seven Member States despite sufferings due to the economic crises.

"I would like to conclude by saying that in this period of economic stress, the U.S. Government remains fully committed to ITER and I and my colleagues in the Administration are working aggressively to secure full funding to meet US commitments", William Brinkman, the Head of the US Delegation and Director of the Office of Science at the US Department of Energy, said. "We may go through some difficult times in the near future, but I would encourage my colleagues in the ITER Council to openly discuss any difficulties they are facing and how other ITER Members may provide assistance. We are all in this together."

Kim Young Shik, the Head of the Korean Delegation and Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology, called ITER "a vital mission for all humanity. I believe we must always bear in mind, that the success of fusion energy does not only concern the future of the seven Members, it is the outcome of our collective effort and more importantly, a dream and hope for all of humanity."

Remmelt Haange Named Head of the ITER Project Department

At its recent meeting, the ITER Council approved the appointment of Remmelt Haange as Deputy Director-General and Head of the ITER Project Department. "Rem" - as people call him — is a very experienced fusion engineer. He worked on JET for more than 15 years and led the ITER team in Naka, Japan, for many years before he became Technical Director of W7-X, the Stellarator project based in Greifswald, Germany. He is thus very familiar with the challenges of fusion technology as such and the challenges of managing a fusion project. And because he truly believes in fusion as "the only alternative" he has decided to join the ITER management rather than thinking about his retirement.

The challenges that lie ahead are "enormous and complicated" Rem stresses, "but they are not unsolvable if we all pull on the same string. The Baseline is approved and so the goals are defined. We now have to make sure that we meet these milestones. This fascinating, world-spanning project must become a success. There is no alternative to fusion." He will take up his duties on 17 January 2011.

ITER Construction

The work on the ITER platform is progressing rapidly. The future Headquarters building is coming out of the ground, the basement is half there and its ceiling is taking shape too. The works are thus well on schedule and should be completed in the summer of 2012. As for the Tokamak excavation, the first phase work has finished and soon the trim blasting to complete the excavation will commence. These works will run into early 2011 and will be followed with the pouring of the first concrete in springtime.

The construction of the Poloidal Field Coil Winding facility is also making impressive progress. Most of the floor slab is completed and the concrete columns are up. The crane runway beams are also well underway. The next step now is the mounting of the steel super-structure, which will finish the main structural aspects of the building. Completion of the final building is scheduled at the end of 2011.

ITER Insurance

On Tuesday, 30 November, the Director-General of the ITER Organization, Osamu Motojima, and the CEO of ZURICH France, Paolo Ribotta, finalized the signature process of the Global Insurance Contract that covers the construction and assembly of the ITER plant. The contract is worth 43 Million Euros and involves many insurance companies from Switzerland, France, UK, USA, Germany, Ireland, China, Korea and Japan.

"This insurance contract is an important step to secure the risk management of the ITER Project", Osamu Motojima declared on behalf of the ITER Organization. "This Project involves so many parties from various countries and having a global insurance program during the construction and erection phase of the Project will simplify contractual relationship between these parties. We are also very happy to see that the main insurers from most of the countries participating in ITER are securing this very important phase of the project's construction and assembly."

ITER Correction Coils

The Correction Coils (CC) are part of the ITER Magnet System and they will play a key role in ITER's performance. The CC are a set of 18 coils inserted between the TF and PF coils and distributed around the Tokamak. Their function is to correct the error field modes resulting from geometrical deviations caused by manufacturing and assembly tolerances. Although much lighter and slimmer than the TF and PF coils - and running a smaller current (10 kA) - the CC are larger in size (up to 8 m wide). Consequently, the manufacture of these coils is not as straightforward as it would seem at first sight. The difficulty lies first in the high precision required in their final dimensions, because the CC must fit into a narrow, predetermined space; secondly, their unusual shape, which is non-planar for side CC and planar, but banana shaped for the top and bottom CC states another challenge. For this reason, the manufacture process must be carefully developed to ensure the manufacturability of these coils within specified tolerances, before advancing to the actual manufacturing stage.

Two Procurement Arrangements (PAs) have been signed by the ITER Organization (IO) for acquisition of the CC, both with the Chinese Domestic Agency (CN-DA). One PA is for manufacture of the conductor, the other for manufacture of the coil. The entire set of these coils will thus be built in China, from the conductor strand to the casing enclosing each coil. It is, therefore, not surprising that IO has placed a R&D contract with the ASIPP laboratory in Hefei, Anhui (China), to carry out a series of development tasks in preparation for CC manufacture. ASIPP laboratory is well qualified to perform this work on the CC, based on experience gained from the construction of the EAST tokamak. Furthermore, the conductors used in EAST are quite similar to the ITER CC; both are made of superconducting Niobium-Titanium (NbTi) strands cabled in a stainless steel conduit, and both are cooled by internal circulation of supercritical helium at 4.5 K.