Fusion Technology
Cadarache, France Chosen as the ITER Site

On June 28, 2005, high-level governmental representatives of the six ITER participant parties meeting at the ITER Ministerial Meeting in Moscow, Russia jointly declared that Cadarache in southern France was chosen as the ITER site. The six participant parties include China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the U.S. This important decision follows a period of intense negotiations between Japan, who proposed a site in Rokkashomura on Japan’s North Island, and France, who proposed the Cadarache site. In statements following the signing at the Ministerial Meeting (www.sc.doe.gov.), U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman noted “Plentiful, reliable energy is crucial to continued worldwide economic development. Fusion technologies have the potential to transform how energy is produced and provide significant amounts of safe, environmentally-friendly power in the future. The ITER project will make this vision a reality.” DOE Office of Science Director Raymond L. Orbach added “The United States supports the decision of the parties to the ITER negotiations to conduct the international fusion reaction experiment at Cadarache, France and the U.S. looks forward to getting ITER construction there underway as soon as practical. It boded well for ITER that there were two serviceable sites and six parties committed to this important fusion project. Now that the partners have agreed on a site, the ITER negotiations must also resolve an agreed-upon financial and procurement arrangement, together with a satisfactory management and oversight arrangement...”
ITER’s mission is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy. It is designed to produce 500 MW of power in pulses of about 400 s duration as its baseline with longer more advanced scenarios possible; first operation is expected in 2016. More information on ITER can be found at the ITER web site, www.ITER.org, and at the FIRE web site, FIRE.pppl.gov . Please refer to Fusion Technology articles in the September, ‘04 and June, ’05 IEEE/NPSS Society News for more information on the proposed U.S. participation in ITER.
Phil Heitzenroeder, chair of the Fusion Technology Standing Committee, can be reached at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, NJ 08543-0451; Phone: +1 609 243 3043; E-mail: pheitzen@pppl.gov.