°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ

Approved! Council gives project green light to proceed

30 Jul 2010 - Sabina Griffith
om_ contract.JPG
Kaname Ikeda looks on as Council Chair Evgeny Velikhov presents professor Osamu Motojima with his °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ contract.
This week, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council, the Governing Body of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization, convened for an extraordinary meeting. Following the most recent reunion of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council in China in June this year, in which no agreement was achieved on the funding of the project due the ongoing debate within the European Party, the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Members decided to convene again for an extraordinary meeting in order to complete discussions on the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Baseline.
 
This updated schedule describes °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ all the way from the beginning of construction, through commissioning, and on to Deuterium-Tritium operation. The main milestones will be the achievement of First Plasma in November 2019 and the start of Deuterium-Tritium operation by March 2027 ultimately taking °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ to 500 MW output power.
 
media.JPG
The extraordinary meeting of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council attracted intense media coverage.
The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council unanimously approved this Baseline, and encouraged the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization to explore ways to optimize the schedule in order to begin Deuterium-Tritium operation in 2026, if possible.
 
Another important decision of this extraordinary meeting was the appointment of Prof. Osamu Motojima as new Director-General of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization. Prof. Motojima is taking over the leadership from Kaname Ikeda, who has led the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Organization since November 2005. Osamu Motojima, a well-known and much respected figure in the field of fusion science in Japan and abroad, was formerly Director General of the Japanese National Institute for Fusion Science.
 
In his first press conference Prof. Motojima stated that the approval of the Baseline symbolized a landmark day for the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ project. The chairman of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ Council, Evgeny Velikhov, added that "what we are achieving here is to ensure not only the success of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ but also the success of fusion."
 
Click here to read the Press Release in English.
 
Click here to read the Press Release in French.