It was the last item in a long list that ranged from the strategic ("a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought") to the trivial ("increased television coverage of sports events"). But it was an item that, in the long term, held the potential to change the course of civilization. Issued on 21 November 1985, the Joint Soviet-United States statement on the Summit Meeting in Geneva contained 13 points. The last one stated that Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan "emphasized the potential importance of the work aimed at utilizing controlled thermonuclear fusion for peaceful purposes and, in this connection, advocated the widest practicable development of international cooperation in obtaining this source of energy, which is essentially inexhaustible, for the benefit of all mankind."   This wasn't a mere footnote. For years, influential members of the fusion community on both sides of great East-West divide had been calling for such a political initiative. Research had reached the point where a large international collaboration was needed to design, develop and finance the "Big Machine" that would demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy.   A strong political boost was just what the initiative needed, and—despite the Cold War tension (or because of it)—both Reagan and Gorbachev were willing to give it.   "It's important to remember that 1985 was not the beginning of international fusion cooperation by any means," says Michael Roberts, a division director in the US fusion program at the time who led the US fusion delegation to Geneva. "There had been literally decades of person-to-person, program-to-program and high-level exchanges before then." (Read the interview with Michael Roberts in this issue.)   Evgeny Velikhov, head of the Soviet fusion research program and Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev had met as university students, one in law, the other in physics. Photo: Kurchatov Archives In the fall of 1985, the opening move came from the Soviets. A few months into the job of General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev needed to ease his country out of the tensions and costs of the Cold War. Advocating a large collaboration in a scientific field that had no military implications was one of the tools he intended to use.   In this approach, Academician Evgeny Velikhov, Gorbachev's scientific advisor, played a key role. The men had met as university students (one in law, the other in physics) and had remained in contact. Velikhov recognized in a 2005 interview in the IAEA ITER Newsletter that, having understood since the INTOR days that international interest in fusion might help the Soviet fusion program that he had lead since 1973, he "made use of this situation"...   "When he became the leader of the country," said Velikhov (who is interviewed in this issue), "Gorbachev understood very well the necessity of broadening international cooperation in the modern world [...] Fusion research was one of the branches of science and technology where the Soviet Union could work on equal terms with any country in the world."   Charles Newstead, a fusion physicist and one of the US State Department officials involved in the pre-Geneva negotiations, remembers how difficult it was to convince reluctant members in the Reagan administration that accepting Gorbachev's proposal was not, as they feared, "giving the Russians the secret of 'Star Wars.'" In the US, the fusion community was also at work. Charles Newstead, a fusion physicist and one of the US State Department officials involved in the pre-Geneva negotiations, remembered in a 2009 interview in Newsline how difficult it was to convince reluctant members in the Reagan administration that accepting Gorbachev's proposal was not, as they feared, "giving the Russians the secret of 'Star Wars'" (a nickname for the Strategic Defense Initiative, a proposed orbital missile system to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear weapons).   Newstead recalled several "shouting matches" prior to the Geneva meeting in the White House Situation Room, the only place that was deemed safe enough to hold meetings on the Soviet proposal. "Once I had to close an argument saying that I had a PhD in physics and they didn't..."   At the Reykjavik Summit, on 11-12 October 1986, a Quadripartite Initiative Committee was formed with EURATOM and Japan, setting the project of "The Big Machine" on track. Meeting in Vienna on 15-16 March 1987, the Quadripartite Initiative Committee decided that the machine would be named ITER. William F. Martin, Executive Secretary of the National Security Council at the time and Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1986, recalls the "climate" in which Gorbachev's proposal was received. In a 2012 letter to Alvin Trivelpiece, then Director of the Office of Energy Research at the US Department of Energy, he wrote: "At this time, we had no positive relations with Russia. It was the 1984 period when Reagan had called the Soviet Union 'the Evil Empire.' You and Evgeny Velikhov [...] crafted an extraordinary concept that the two countries could begin common research in magnetic fusion — but there were those in the government [...] that said it was to their advantage to engage with us and that it would be militarily useful to the Soviets."   Soon, however, these objections and obstacles were lifted. Reagan's and Gorbachev's long-term vision was to prove more powerful than fears and mistrust. Eleven months after the initiative in fusion was launched at the Geneva Summit it was confirmed at the Reykjavik Summit. A Quadripartite Initiative Committee was formed with EURATOM and Japan, and "The Big Machine" was on track. Soon, it would be called ITER*.   Although the idea of developing a large international cooperation in fusion research "as a potential way of dealing with the energy needs of the world of the future" was the very last item in the Geneva Summit's agenda ... in the end it was one of the farthest reaching.   * The name "ITER" was agreed upon at a meeting of the Quadripartite Initiative Committee at the IAEA in Vienna on 15-16 March 1987.

Michael Roberts has a more than 40-year history with the United States fusion program, including over 26 years as Director, ITER and International Division, within the Fusion Energy Sciences (Office of Science) in the US Department of Energy (DOE). Since his retirement from the DOE in 2006, Roberts has continued to serve the US and international fusion community as Chair of the ITER Council Working Group on Export Control, Non-Proliferation and Peaceful Uses. A quarter century later, later, Evgeny Velikhov as ITER Council chair and Mike Roberts as head of the ITER Export Control Group continue their discussion at the Château of Cadarache. Could you situate the Geneva Summit in international fusion history?   It's important to remember that 1985 was not the beginning of international fusion cooperation by any means. There had been literally decades of person-to-person, program-to-program and high-level exchanges before then. The US international collaboration on fusion research dates back to the early 1950s when Professor Lyman Spitzer at Princeton was intrigued by Juan Peron's announcement that Argentina had achieved fusion in the laboratory and, later, when nuclear fusion was declassified in 1958. Heads of State have been key to major advancements in fusion collaborations. In 1973, we started to interact at more of a program-to-program level. By the time of the 1985 Geneva Summit, I had been involved in international fusion for 19 years.   Tell us about your working relationship with Russian Academician Evgeny Velikhov.   Working with Evgeny was always straightforward, as we had the same objective of advancing fusion energy research through effective international collaboration. While Evgeny and I were involved with fusion collaborations from the beginning, we were always on very different levels and we were many rungs apart on the ladder! At that time, Evgeny, who was always a fusion policy leader, was the science advisor to his nation's leader, while I was a division director in the US fusion program.  Even so, we were the two leaders heading the US-Soviet fusion delegations in 1985. I think you can see the respectful relationship in the photo—he was very senior, I was very junior, but we always worked together well. We had a common objective to make fusion a reality. I worked on a specific science program level, while he did it at very high levels on many projects. For perspective, two weeks after our meetings in 1985, he was at a meeting with President Mitterrand and General Secretary Gorbachev! (See the interview with Academician Velikhov in this issue.)   What factors helped the US and Russia move toward a common project?   The Soviets were open about what they were doing, and we became open too. Government policy helped this happen. Annual bilateral committee meetings at program level for the US-USSR Joint Fusion Power Coordinating Committee allowed us to work together, providing opportunities for me and others from the US fusion program to get to know our Soviet counterparts. I was in the role a long time and people knew who I was and that they could trust me. Leading up to the Geneva Summit, there had been considerable effort in the West to craft a common fusion program "roadmap." This was done under the auspices of the 1982 Versailles Summit process through its Fusion Working Group. The ground was very fertile in 1984 and 1985 to work together, which manifested itself in a US proposal by the end of 1986 to have a quadripartite effort with the US, USSR, EU and Japan. This effort materialized into a Conceptual Design period for ITER from 1988 to 1990. Based on many years of working together bilaterally, the view from my Soviet colleague was typically that "if it is okay with you, it is okay with me." I was known as an honest broker. We had the same international interests, but we also had to uphold our own national interests.   After the Geneva Summit, I was told that President Reagan wanted this to happen because he saw the potential positive impact of American and Soviet engineers living and working together for some period of time. That is a good reminder that ITER is a dual experiment—it's not just science and physics, but also an experiment in international collaboration!   Could you describe how the negotiation was prepared by advisors on both sides?  

Academician Evgeny Velikhov, the current President of the NRC Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, has been at the head of the Russian (former Soviet) fusion program since 1973. He is also the initiator and key player in the international ITER Project. He was ITER Council Chair during the technical design phase for ITER and again at the start of ITER construction from 2010-2012. As we approach the 30th anniversary of the Geneva Summit where the historic decision was made to unite international efforts for the construction of a new-generation fusion facility, can you share with us some of your recollections? It is well known that you were the one who proposed this idea to the new General Secretary of the USSR.   Actually, this happened even earlier, before the Geneva meeting. Soon after Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary, in March 1985, of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union), he went on his first visit to France to meet President Mitterrand. A new era in the relationship between the USSR and the West had started and it was a propitious time to formulate an idea for cooperation.  Two ideas were born then—the first dealt with joint work on an accelerator of the supercollider type, and I decided to propose cooperation in the area of nuclear fusion. It is necessary to note that we already cooperated with international organizations via the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and others; still, it was not at a really serious level.   It is also important to remember that another collaborative project in fusion, called INTOR, had started in Brezhnev times during a thaw in relations with the West. When war in Afghanistan started relations chilled again. As a result of these complications, Europe and the USA moved forward on negotiations on fusion collaboration in the framework of the 1982 Versailles Summit without the participation of the Soviet Union. Negotiations stalled however; therefore, I decided to deliver this idea to Gorbachev who was going on a visit to Paris.   Are you saying that the thaw between Russia and the West provided the necessary momentum for international cooperation in the field of nuclear fusion?   Yes, we can say so. Here is an interesting fact: just before the visit of Secretary General Gorbachev to Paris, I met my colleague and good friend Mike Roberts from the US Department of Energy in Vienna. I remember we were sitting in a small restaurant and I told him: "Mike, there's a new idea on the table, what do you think?" He was absolutely sure that nothing would come of it. Luckily, he was wrong!   On the contrary, Gorbachev took well to the proposal and invited me to the meeting. President Mitterrand immediately picked up on the idea of international cooperation in fusion.    And what was the attitude of the world?   I was in very good relations at the time with all of the US specialists in the field of nuclear fusion, and in particular with Alvin Trivelpiece, Director of the Office of Energy Research. He was involved in a very similar project—the superconducting supercollider in Texas—but for a number of reasons the project did not evolve. All of us, including the USA, were already prepared for our proposal regarding the joint project implementation. We already had certain long-term experience in implementing the INTOR project.   Besides, Jack Matlock—who was responsible for relations with Russia in the US Department of State and later became the Ambassador to the USSR—also supported the idea strongly. Another employee of the Department of State, who brought Reagan the documents for signature, was also on our side, plus we had the strong support of the IAEA. Support from the US Department of Energy and Department of State, as well as the recommendation from President Mitterrand, allowed the item to figure on the agenda of the Geneva Summit in November 1985. Many issues, including sensitive ones, were discussed during that meeting and the cooperation around a global project in fusion was coordinated.   Was there no opposition at all to this initiative?  Of course there was. For example, the head of the US Department of Defense Caspar Weinberger and, in particular, his deputy Richard Perle, were totally against the initiative. He asked me a very direct question—"What do we need your nuclear fusion for?"  

​Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who died on 10 November at age 96, played an essential but little-known role in the decision to site the large European tokamak JET in Culham, UK. In the mid-1970s, the parties involved in the project were facing the difficult task of deciding where to build the ground-breaking machine. Four sites were volunteering: Culham in the UK; Garching in Germany; Cadarache in France and Ispra in Italy. As neither Ispra, nor at the time Cadarache, hosted a fusion research infrastructure that could support the new project, the choice soon narrowed to Culham and Garching. Political discussions to decide between the two had been dragging on for almost two years when, on 17 October 1977, the conclusion of a tragic event contributed to breaking the deadlock. Five days earlier, terrorists had hijacked a Frankfurt-bound Lufthansa airliner to eventually land it in Mogadishu, Somalia. Eighty-six passengers were held hostage; one crew member had been killed. The German chancellor decided to have the airliner stormed by special troops. The successful operation, with no passengers injured, was a political triumph for Schmidt. The German special troops had benefitted from key intelligence and special equipment from the British Special Air Service, who had sent observers to Mogadishu. The following day, a meeting was scheduled in Bonn between Schmidt and the British Prime Minister James Callaghan. The atmosphere was one of relief and gratefulness. In an obliging gesture, Schmidt accepted to be more accommodating on the JET siting issue. One week later, the European partners all agreed on building JET at Culham.

​ ITER launched its new website this week! A techier look to go with our ultra-hi-tech mission. For all those friends who ask you over lunch: "How does magnetic confinement fusion work — really?" You now have a place to point them to. And don't miss the machine pages! If you find yourself swooning over a cryostat or a divertor in 3D, you're not alone ...

The ramp-up time for achieving a fusion reaction inside a tokamak machine varies, depending on a certain number of boundary conditions such as volume, temperature and density and, of course, the fuels injected.   In the auditorium of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, at Prague's Czech Technical University, all the variables were in place on Sunday night—drink, food, room temperature and body density—and so it took less than two minutes after the official opening of this year's FuseNet PhD event before the room started to buzz and the volume tripled. The only thing missing to make the molecules fuse on the dance floor was the music, which soon set in very vibrantly in form of the Apples, a local female rock band.   With a record participation of 130 students, the fifth edition of the FuseNet PhD event is off to an enthusiastic start. Physicist Richard Pitts, from the ITER Organization, opened the scientific part of the program on Monday 16 November with an overview of the ITER Project, assuring those assembled in the auditorium that they were entering the discipline at exactly the right time. "You are at the golden age of fusion."    The event, organized each year under the umbrella of the FuseNet association with the financial support of EUROfusion, brings together a large fraction of the PhD students in Europe that work in the fields of fusion science and engineering. Young researchers get the opportunity to share their ideas, learn from each other's experiences and develop a network of contacts.   "We are seeing some very high quality research," said Jean-Marie Noterdaeme from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Garching and Head of the Advisory Board of the European Erasmus Mundus program.   Follow the three-day event through the dedicated FuseNet website.   -- Sabina Griffith

The Monaco ITER International Fusion Energy Days (MIIFED) and the ITER Business Forum (IBF) 2016 will take place in Monaco from 8 to 11 February 2016. It will be the sole event dedicated to industrial opportunities at ITER in 2016. Over three days, participants will have the opportunity to learn about progress achieved so far, the current status of ITER construction and manufacturing, and upcoming business opportunities. Through B2B and B2C meetings, the event will also facilitate networking between companies and the exploration of partnership opportunities in the context of the technological challenges of ITER. An industrial and R&D exhibition will also be staged. On 11 February, delegates will have the option to visit the ITER worksite as well as two industrial sites where ITER component manufacturing is in progress (Simic S.p.A and Cnim). For the first time, this international event will combine an ITER Business Forum with the MIIFED international event. The rationale is to facilitate productive interaction between industry and fusion laboratories from the seven ITER Members and to foster collaboration between those actors, especially in technical areas where strong cooperation is required such as heating systems, diagnostics or remote handling systems. Registration has started! Come and join us! This international conference offers an excellent opportunity for exchanging views and experiences and forming valuable international business relationships for the ITER program and beyond. From 8 to 11 February, we will bring you into contact with high-level decision makers, international industrialists, experienced researchers and ITER staff, giving you plenty of opportunity to meet reliable partners for your core business. Join us at MIIFED-IBF 2016 in Monaco, under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II. Please register here.