Book Review by Dr. Stephen O. Dean, Fusion Power Associates

Dr. Michel Claessens, ITER Policy Officer at the European Commission in Brussels, has authored a comprehensive look into the origins and history of ITER, the large international fusion project currently under construction in Cadarache, France. Scheduled to begin first operations in 2025, the project is a joint venture of the European Union, China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States. The European Union is covering almost half the cost.

ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is designed to produce, for the first time in history, a substantial amount of fusion energy (about 500 Megawatts for 15 minutes every pulse), with the aim of validating the promise of using the fusion process for electricity generation and other commercial applications.

Dr. Claessens is well positioned to write such a history, having been associated with the ITER project since 2011 and being in his present position since 2016.

Fusion has long been known for deep and widespread international collaborations. Following massive declassifications at the United Nations Second Geneva Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in 1958, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began a series of biennial international fusion energy conferences that have continued to this day (the next to be held in Nice, France in October 2020). It was following one of those conferences in 1969 where results reported by the Soviets using an experimental magnetic configuration called “tokamak” led countries around the world to start building the bigger and better tokamaks that have provided the scientific basis for the ITER project.

Claessens describes in great detail the complex interactions within Europe and elsewhere that led to the choice of Cadarache as the site for ITER construction and for the EU to provide the lion’s share (45%) of the ITER cost. While Claessens describes primarily the European effort and he does also treat to some extent similar efforts in the other ITER partners, the history of such detail for the other partners remains to be written. As Claessens notes, “The 7 ITER members actually represent 35 countries - more than half the global population.”

In this 212 page book Claessens treats more than just a history of the ITER project. Many broader topics are covered, including the author’s perspectives on such topics as sources of energy in general, comments from persons opposed to ITER, the challenges of eventual commercialization, international politics and public communication. In soft cover ($20) and kindle ($10) versions, this book is a bargain that no one interested in fusion and its future energy potential should pass up. Available at Springer.com/shop or Amazon.