First Technical Advisory Group meeting held at Cadarache

The first meeting of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) was held on April 25-27 at the Chateau in Cadarache. The TAG's function is to advise the ITER Director-General and Principal Deputy Director General on procurement and construction aspects of the project and to provide an independent assessment on the status of the design.

The TAG is made up of a maximum of 12 experts selected by the DG and PDDG from leading fusion scientists and technical managers from industries and laboratories who have been involved in projects comparable in size and scope to ITER. The current chairman is Dr. Michel Huguet, former Deputy Director of the ITER Joint Central Team and Head of Site at the Naka Joint Work Site in Japan.

Items discussed included the status of the ITER Organization including technical coordination of activities, budget and resources, the status of the design review, the integrated project schedule, status and organization of procurements and an overview of the development of the ITER Departments.