Busy years ahead for the ITER CLI

The coming years will be quite busy for the Local Commission for Information (CLI), the independent body that acts as an interface between ITER and the local population.

The ITER CLI was formally established last December. On Wednesday 24 February, 28 of its 42 members convened in the Council Room at the Château to hold their first general assembly and elect the Commission's Executive Board.

The role of the CLI will be particularly important over the next two years as ITER will go through the successive steps of the regulatory "authorization process."

As Carlos Alejaldre, Deputy-Director-General for Safety and Security explained in his presentation, the CLI will be kept "informed" at every stage of the process that will begin in the coming weeks with the submission of the installation's safety files to the French Nuclear Safety Authority.

On the occasion of the CLI's inception three months ago, Director-General Ikeda had insisted on his wish that a "trusting and transparent relationship" be established with ITER. Last week's general assembly was a first test of that relationship as many questions were asked and answers provided by the ITER Organization and Agence Iter France's senior management.