ITER Organization and Russian Federation sign

Signing ceremony: (left) Norbert Holtkamp, (right) Evgueny Velikhov.

The first Procurement Agreement between the ITER Organization and the Domestic Agency of the Russian Federation was signed on 12 February 2008 by ITER PDDG Norbert Holtkamp and Academician Evgeny P. Velikhov in the Kurchatov Institute, Moscow

This Procurement Arrangement is for part of the conductor for the toroidal field coils that will confine the plasma within the ITER machine and is an important step forward in work being undertaken by Russia for the ITER Project. It is the first of the baseline agreements by which the Russian Federation will make its in-kind contributions to the ITER Project.

"I am convinced, that Russia is both technically and financially completely able to qualitatively and in time fulfil its obligations under this agreement," Academician Velikhov said. Norbert Holtkamp expressed his confidence in further successful collaborations with the Russian Federation and underlined that "Russia has been making significant contribution to the ITER Project development for a long time".

Also participating in the signing ceremony of this Procurement Agreement were: Vitaliy Korzhavin, Petr Romanov (Rosatom), Russian Domestic Agency staff, and senior representatives of companies and scientific organizations involved in the ITER Project in Russia.

A brief press conference was held after the signing ceremony where ITER PDDG Holtkamp and Academician Velikhov answered questions from Russian and foreign journalists.