Council meets in Japan
On 17-18 June, the Council, the governing body of the Organization, convened for its fourth meeting. The two-day meeting in Mito, Japan brought together representatives from the seven Members: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States.
The Council endorsed as a working basis for development of the project baseline the phased approach to the completion of construction and the target date for First Plasma by the end of 2018, maintaining operation with deuterium and tritium fuels in 2026. The Council also requested the finalization of a realistic schedule with the resources needed to complete construction. In order to substantially reduce overall risk the primary components of the machine will be assembled and tested together before the progressive installation of in-vessel components continues. A similar approach has been adopted during the construction of all major tokamaks. "Council recognized that this is a responsible way to build ", said Council chair Prof. Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith. "Agreement on this approach was a key milestone towards the planned adoption of the baseline at the next meeting in November."
The Director-General of the Organization, Kaname Ikeda, reported on progress since the third meeting of the Council in November 2008. He thanked the governments of the Members for their ongoing support, saying "We are creating a new model of global collaboration and the world is watching our progress. We have come together to catalyze the next stage of development of and I hope and trust that the 4th Council meeting will be a memorable event on the way to the demonstration of fusion as a safe, limitless, energy source."
The Council reviewed the reports from the various committees and working groups, showing progress on establishing the policies and procedures of this new global collaboration.
The Council appointed an assessor to carry out the Management Assessment, which according to the Agreement, must be undertaken at least every two years, and established a Steering Committee for the Assessment.
Read the full press release here (English)...
Read the full press release here (French)...
The European Commission welcomed the outcome of the Council meeting.
"The outcome of today's Council is an important step in the right direction", the EU Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik, said in a , "but a number of conditions still have to be met to reach this goal. Together with our international partners, we will intensify our work to obtain credible costs assessment, including means to contain them and to find ways to further improve the efficiency of the project's management at international and EU level."
