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July 29, 1996

The ITER Council met in St. Petersburg, Russia July 24-25. At that meeting they received and accepted a report from their "ITER EDA Protocol 2 Special Working Group(SWG)," and agreed to transmit the report to the respective governments ("The Parties") "to serve as a basis for the start of Explorations among the parties toward ITER implementation. "Explorations" consists of informal discussion among the governments prior to entering into formal "Negotiations" for ITER "implementation", i.e., construction. The topic of the SWG (so-called "Task 1") report is to present "possible scenarios toward siting, licensing and host support, including a brief analysis of these scenarios based on Parties constraints and projects needs as well as the specific issues that should be resolved by the Explorers."

The SWG defines a new acronym for the ITER phase beyond the current EDA (Engineerign Design Activities) phase, as the COEDA Phase (Construction, Operation, Exploitation and Decommissioning Activitiess). Dr. Cannobio and Dr. Tomabechi co-chaired the SWG.

The SWG says that the Parties should seek to contribute equal shares to the costs of the advanced technologies that constitute the "construction core," with the host country picking up the remaining costs. They say, "The value of this core might range from about 40 to 70% of the construction costs." Thus, they estimate, "Equal sharing of the construction core costs would require each Party to provide for that purpose about 10% to 17.5% of the construction costs." They say, "In the case where a Party cannot expect participation at these levels, a scenario for Explorers' consideration is acceptance of Parties participation on a basis other than that of overall equality." Unequal participation, if necessary, would be "determined in Negotiations before signature of the COEDA Agreement."

With respect to siting, the report says, "The Parties that wish to host ITER should be prepared to make a formal offer before the end of the Explorations (tentatively mid-1997)." They say, "The Parties' offers should indicate the intention to offer one or several candidate site(s) and the readiness to satisfy the ITER technical site requirements, to meet the Host responsibilities in providing servicds and infrastructure and to bear the agreed share of project costs." They say, "The construction site would be identified during Negotiations, preferably before the end of the EDA."

They recommend the establishment of an ITER "Legal Entitiy" (ILE) to take responsibility for all aspects of the project. The ILE may be established either under international law or under domestic law, the report says. A number of other detailed issues are decscribed in the report, including how personnel would be seconded or employed by the ILE and how countries other than the current EDA Parties might enter into the COEDA. The ITER Council intends to meet again in December 17-18 in Tokyo.

For more information, contact: Stephen O. Dean