A little before 2:00 a.m. on 17 April 2020 a powerful transport trailer, accompanied by dozens of technical and security vehicles, passed the gates of the ITER site. On the trailer's flatbed, tightly wrapped in protective material, sat a massive D-shaped load—the first of the 19 toroidal field coils (including one spare) required for the ITER tokamak. The nature of the component was familiar. For close to ten years we had watched it slowly come to life, from the early manufacturing of the superconducting niobium-tin strands, to the cabling and jacketing of conductor and the machining of radial plates, up until the final insertion into steel cases. But being confronted by that mighty presence was a whole different experience. The size of the component brought home just how exceptionally large the ITER tokamak would be. This first toroidal field coil (TF9) was procured by Europe and had travelled a relatively short distance from its manufacturing site in Italy. Eight days later, on Saturday 25 April, a second coil (TF12) arrived at the ITER site, having completed a 10,000-kilometre journey from Japan. Over the following three-and-a-half years all 19 coils (10 from Europe, 9 from Japan) were to be faultlessly manufactured and delivered. It is this unique industrial and logistical achievement that was celebrated on Monday 1 July, in the presence of some of the 'historical figures' of the great toroidal field coil venture and the high representatives of the ITER stakeholders involved in this strategic project-within-the-project. Indeed, as ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi said in his opening address, the 17-metre-tall ITER toroidal field coils 'look like science-fiction.' Forty times the mass of CERN's Atlas magnets, presently the largest operating magnets in the world, they represent 'a huge step forward' in superconducting magnet technology. 'Created by human minds and hands,' these technological marvels are more than 'the backbone of the ITER machine.' Having brought together 'essentially all the ITER Members' in their design and fabrication process they represent 'the very soul' of the project. International collaboration, 'the integrated effort,' and the 'technological breakthroughs' that led to the successful procurement of the 19 ITER toroidal field coils was also highlighted by Masahito Moriyama, the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the Italian Minister of Environment and Energy Security. Both placed the first-of-a-kind achievement in the broader context of fusion's 'potential to solve global energy and environmental problems simultaneously' (Moriyama) and a 'future of clean, safe and practically inexhaustible energy' (Pichetto Fratin). 'A good day for the world' is how Kadri Simson, the European Union Commissioner for Energy characterized this first day of July. 'The toroidal field coils have long been considered amongst the most complex components to manufacture,' she said in a video address. 'In Europe, under the leadership of Fusion for Energy, more 40 companies and 700 people were involved in coil fabrication. Some of the companies involved now apply the technologies and know-how they developed for ITER to other projects. This demonstrates the added value of working for ITER.' For the Chinese Ambassador to France, Shaye Lu, who recalled the signature of the conductor Procurement Arrangement in 2008 and its completion eight years later, 'ITER [...] embodies humanity's hope for peace and sustainable development. It is the 'little sun that will shine upon the shared future of the human community.' The scope and complexity of manufacturing the ITER toroidal field coils, the multiple technological and organizational challenges faced by the industry in Europe and in Japan were perfectly illustrated by the 8-minute film that was projected to the audience. As fabrication processes unfolded, from strands to cable-in-conduct conductor, from 'double pancakes modules' winding to case insertion, from final machining to shipping and delivery, one took the full measure of what had been accomplished. Fabrication of the toroidal field coils 'required top expertise, large facilities with special equipment, a lot of coordination between the different interfaces and a procurement strategy that could provide all the above,' said Marc Lachaise, Director of the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy. 'From the outset, it could have seemed impossible... Our teams made it possible.' Like Fusion for Energy in Europe, QST—Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology—organized the Japanese procurement of the ITER toroidal field coils. Its President, Shigeo Koyasu, expressed his gratitude to 'all the previous ITER Director-Generals' and to all the men and women of ITER whose efforts are contributing to realize 'a peaceful and prosperous society.' A few of these emblematic contributors, whether engineers or scientists, logistics specialists or industry representatives, were then called on stage. First among them, Michel Huguet was introduced by Director-General Barabaschi as 'the father of these coils.' The physicist, who had joined the French fusion program in 1969 and had headed for more than ten years (1992-2003) the ITER Joint Work Site in Naka, Japan, reminded the audience that the achievement that was being celebrated originated 32 years ago, with the launch of the Engineering Design Activities (EDA), the founding moment in the long history of the project. The presence onstage of Kiyoshi Okuno, Neil Mitchell, Alessandro Bonito Oliva and Norikiyo Koizumi was a potent symbol of what Michel Huguet once called the 'multi-generation chain of fusion builders,' which he compared to 'medieval cathedral builders' engaged in a project of 'unprecedented timescale.' On 1 July, the ITER cathedral was far from completed, but 18 of its key elements were. And that was definitely worth celebrating. See a video on the making of the ITER toroidal field coils here.  See a video of the event here.

At a press conference on 3 July attended by approximately 200 journalists and key ITER stakeholders, ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi answered questions about the new project plan—the 'baseline'—that is under evaluation by the ITER Organization's governing body. The top-line messages were: ITER's programmatic goals have not changed; and the first experimental phase of the machine, although delayed, will be much more consequential than originally planned.  The new baseline replaces the plan that had been used as a reference since 2016, and which for some time had been publicly acknowledged to be no longer 'feasible, practical or optimal.' The major drivers of delay—the Covid pandemic that slowed factory work and inspections and added delay to the supply chain, and the repair required on key machine components—also created new opportunities to reconsider ITER's path to assembly and operation. Whereas the 2016 plan made a low-energy, low-current first plasma the first major milestone—to be immediately followed by a multiyear assembly period to install major in-vessel components—the delay offered the project a new way forward: starting operations with a more complete machine. The new baseline has been designed to prioritize a robust start to scientific exploitation. With a divertor, blanket shield blocks and other key components and systems in place, ITER's first operational phase, Start of Research Operation, will feature hydrogen and deuterium-deuterium plasmas that culminate in the operation of the machine in long pulses at full magnetic energy and plasma current. 'Instead of a symbolic first plasma that I liken to a 'machine test' achieved with a relatively 'naked' machine,' says ITER Director-General Barabaschi, 'in the new plan we will start by performing real research with plasma, leading to the demonstration of integrated commissioning at full magnetic energy and current. This is a robust start that will allow us to make up for some of the delay the project has accumulated, and also provide for better risk mitigation on the way to achieving project goals.' The new baseline also includes more time for integrated commissioning, the testing of some magnet coils at 4 K (minus 269 ° C), additional heating, and the availability of disruption mitigation. The material for the plasma-facing blanket first wall is also changing from beryllium to tungsten. 'You will not find a fusion reactor project that plans to use beryllium,' says the Director-General. 'This modification makes our experiment more relevant to next-phase devices.' In the new plan, the achievement of full magnetic energy in 2036 represents a delay of three years relative to the 2016 reference, while the start of the deuterium-tritium operation phase in 2039 represents a delay of four years. The Director-General was careful to stress that the 'mission elements' of the project will not be modified—demonstrating the integration of systems needed for industrial-scale fusion operations; achieving a burning plasma with 500 MW of thermal fusion power for 50 MW input heating power (Q≥10); and 400-second pulses, reaching thermal equilibria (in plasma and structures). As for the cost of the new plans, the ITER Director-General said that the additional cost for the ITER Organization amounts to EUR 5 billion—a figure that is still under review by the ITER Members. ITER costs historically have been difficult to estimate precisely because the bulk of financial contributions are provided in-kind by ITER Members in the form of components, for most of which Member governments are not required to publish their actual costs. Read the summary document that was provided to journalists here. 

Whether partners, children, parents or close relatives, they probably hear about ITER every day. But few of them, until last Sunday, ever had the opportunity to see ITER with their own eyes, experience the expanse of the construction site, the size of the components, the 'pulse' (even on a Sunday) of one the largest and most enthralling science projects in the world. On Sunday 30 June the 'Family Day' that ITER Communication organized provided just that opportunity to 650 ITER personnel and their relatives. The program included 'self guided'' visits, presentations in the amphitheatre, plasma, magnet and vacuum experiments, and a spectacular immersion in virtual reality. Partners, children, parents and close relatives of ITER personnel will continue to hear about ITER every day. Having experienced the reality behind the words and the stories, one can safely bet they will ask for more...