About ITER

ITER is an international Tokamak research/engineering project designed to prove the scientific and technological feasibility of a full-scale fusion power reactor. It is an experimental step between today's studies of plasma physics and future electricity-producing fusion power plants.

The heart of ITER is a superconducting Tokamak facility (see Fig. 1) with striking design similarities to JET, but twice the linear dimensions. It will have a plasma volume of around 840m³). It is designed to produce approximately 500 MW of fusion power sustained for more than 400 seconds. ITER will be the first fusion experiment with an output power higher than the input power.

On November 21st 2006, the seven participants (European Union, India, Japan, Korea, People's Republic of China, Russian Federation and United States of America) formally agreed to fund the project. The ITER programme is anticipated to last for 30 years - 10 years for construction, and 20 years of operation. It will be based in Cadarache, France. It is (in 2007) technically ready to start construction and the first plasma operation is expected in 2016.

Siting ITER in the European Union is an honour for the European fusion community. Europe, with its broad fusion programme which includes the largest fusion experiment to date - the Joint European Torus (JET) - is well-prepared for this commitment. Furthermore, France is a key participant in this programme, with the operation of the largest superconducting Tokamak (Tore Supra), and with many experts from the Association Euratom-CEA, playing an influential role in JET and in fusion technology research (see DRFC CEA website).