TENTH ITER COUNCIL IN WASHINGTON D.C. REASSERTS THE CRITICAL NEED TO MAINTAIN PROJECT SCHEDULE WITHIN COST

WASHINGTON D.C., United States (21 June 2012) - During its tenth meeting in Washington D.C. (the first Council meeting held in the USA), the ITER Council acknowledged a number of positive advancements for the project, noting, in particular, the progress of ITER construction and licensing. The Council stressed that respecting the project schedule within cost remains a critical issue and that reported slippages need rapid correction; it also noted that the ITER Organization and the seven Domestic Agencies are working together on these corrections.

Relative to schedule issues, decisions were taken regarding the manufacturing of some major ITER Tokamak components. This meeting took place in the Ronald Reagan building, which is fitting given the fact that ITER was born out of the shared vision of Secretary General Gorbachev and President Reagan at the Geneva Summit in 1985. This ITER Council was the first chaired by Dr. Hideyuki Takatsu of Japan, who began his term as ITER Council Chair on 1 January 2012.

On 20 and 21 June 2012, the ITER Council, the governing body of the ITER Organization, convened for the tenth time. The Council was welcomed to the United States by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Representative Rush Holt, who expressed the strong US commitment to the project. The two-day meeting brought together representatives from all the seven ITER Members—China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States—under the chairmanship of Dr. Hideyuki Takatsu (Japan).

The Council noted the substantive advances of construction at the ITER site in Cadarache (France) as well as the progress made in the manufacturing of Tokamak components in all the ITER Members. The Council welcomed the completion of the Tokamak Complex Seismic Pit as all 493 anti-seismic bearings were successfully installed.

A legal framework arrangement was finalized to provide for the deployment of test blanket modules, which are a key research element of the ITER experiment. The Council welcomed the Korean participation into this research program.

The Council expressed concern over delays in the manufacturing of some major components such as the vacuum vessel. The ITER Organization presented proactive and forward-looking measures to stop further slippage; the implementation of some of these measures has already begun. The Council urged the ITER Organization to further develop and implement a complete schedule recovery strategy in close cooperation with Domestic Agencies. Council members reasserted the necessity of keeping the project well on schedule and within cost.