Visiting the ITER Members

18 Sep 2009 - Sabina Griffith

Bilateral meetings with the ITER Members, such as here at the Korean Minstry of Education, Science and Technology, represent an important part of the Director-General's diplomatic mission.

Most recently, the ITER Director-General Kaname Ikeda travelled to China, Korea and Japan to present and discuss the ITER Organization's approaches and activities in preparation of the Baseline documentation.

On 3 September, Director-General Ikeda met Yasutaka Moriguchi, the Deputy Minister of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). From Japan, Mr Ikeda then moved on to Korea where he met the Assistant Minister LEE Sang Mok of the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology (MEST). He also met Gyung-Su Lee, the President of the National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) on the same day. "The meeting was very constructive," both participants concluded. Again, Director-General Ikeda introduced the approach of the ITER Organization to the preparation of the Baseline for the upcoming ITER Council meeting in November. Regarding the schedule, Dr Lee on behalf of Korea stressed that from a political standpoint, achieving First Plasma in 2018 was very important.

During a stopover in China, Mr Ikeda met the Chinese Vice Minister CAO Jianlin of the Ministry of Science & Technology, and CHENG Jinpei, Head of Chinese Domestic Agency, with whom he discussed the upcoming Briscoe Panel meeting.