FPN16-15
2025 Earliest Date for ITER Operation, Panel Says
May 2, 2016
The Independent Review Group, commissioned by the ITER Council, has
confirmed that 2025 is the "earliest possible technically achievable
date" by which ITER construction can be completed and First Plasma (FP)
can be achieved. This date, which represents a 5 year slip from the
previous plan, was proposed by the ITER Director General in November
2015 in his Updated Long-Term Schedule (ULTS) that the Group was charge
to assess. Neither the November report nor the current Review Group
report has officially been released to the public, Copies of the Review
Group report are available, however, from Fusion Power Associates on
request: fusionpwrassoc@aol.com
The Review Group notes, however, that the 2025 date "does not presently
have any contingency" and they caution that the estimate "cannot yet be
considered to be reliable given that some risks will inevitably
materialize". The Group also noted that the estimate does not take into
account the "known financial constraints of the Members". The ITER
Council, at its April 27-28 meeting accepted the report and told the
ITER Director General to continue to update his November 2015 plan in
consultation with the Members (EU, China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia
and USA} and to provide an updated Long-Term Schedule to the Council in
June.