Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • Poloidal field magnets | The last ring

    As the massive ring-shaped coil inched its way from the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility, where it was manufactured, to the storage facility nearby where i [...]

    Read more

  • Heat rejection | White "smoke" brings good news

    Like a plume of white smoke rising from a cardinals' conclave to announce the election of a new pope, the tenuous vapour coming from one of the ITER cooling cel [...]

    Read more

  • WEC 2024 | Energy on centre stage

    The global players in the energy sector convened in Rotterdam last week for the 26th edition of the World Energy Congress (WEC). The venue was well chosen, wit [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion world | The EU blueprint for fusion energy

    The EU Blueprint for Fusion Energy workshop, convened by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy, brought together key stakeholders in the fiel [...]

    Read more

  • Neutral beam injection | ELISE achieves target values for ITER

    Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching, Germany, have generated the ion current densities required for ITER neutral beam injecti [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Building ITER

Halfway to First Plasma

It's been a long road and we haven't reached our destination yet. But on its way to operation, ITER has just passed a significant milestone: according to the stringent metrics that measure project performance, 50 percent of the "total construction work scope through First Plasma" is now complete.

This view of ''Planet ITER'' shows a worksite teeming with activity. Close to 53% of construction activities on site and manufacturing activities in the ITER Members for components and systems needed for First Plasma have been completed. (Click to view larger version...)
This view of ''Planet ITER'' shows a worksite teeming with activity. Close to 53% of construction activities on site and manufacturing activities in the ITER Members for components and systems needed for First Plasma have been completed.
The performance metrics used in ITER assign a relative weight to every activity category within the project. Design, for instance, accounts for 24 percent; buildings construction and manufacturing for 48 percent; assembly and installation for 20 percent.

After having compounded the percentage of completion of each category, the metrics produce a figure for the totality of the work scope through the launch of operations ("First Plasma"). Design, which accounts for approximately one-fourth of the scope, is now close to 95 percent complete; manufacturing and building, which represents almost half of the total activities is close to 53 percent complete. Do a little math and the result is clear: in terms of activities that need to be completed, ITER is now halfway to its first operational event.

The passing of this milestone reflects "the collective contribution and commitment of ITER's seven Members," writes Director-General Bernard Bigot in a top-level communication to officials in the governments of the participating nations.

The reaction of the world media to the passing of this highly symbolic milestone was unprecedented: close to 600 publications, from a total of 41 countries, hailed the accomplishment. Global news agencies, newspapers and magazines (from the Guardian in the UK to Times of India), radio stations in the Czech Republic and Germany, and countless web sites in the United States, India, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines or Australia ... all stressed the importance of what is at stake in ITER.

See a selection of articles here.

Read the Statement sent by the Director-General to all ITER Members (in English or in French).
 
Read the full press release in English or in French.
 

return to the latest published articles