Europese Commissie tevreden met uitkomsten van de ITER-bestuursraad (en) - Hoofdinhoud
The European Commission welcomes the outcome of today's ITER Council - the Governing Body of the one year old ITER Organization. The Commission representatives (EURATOM) attended this two-day meeting in Cadarache (France) together with representatives from the other 6 ITER members: China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States. The Parties discussed the progress report of a panel of international experts that was asked by the last ITER Council meeting in June 2008 to assess the Organization's resources estimates and their efficient use. One of the key recommendations is to improve the management system through closer integration of the international organization and the Domestic agencies. This should facilitate the execution of the entire project and contribute to the stabilisation of the cost estimates.
The progress report (from the "Briscoe Review panel") recommends a more integrated approach involving stronger cooperation between the International Organization and the Domestic Agencies responsible for providing the contribution from each of the 7 Parties. This higher level of integration is a crucial step for moving the project forward, streamlining management and containing costs.
EU Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potocnik i said: "ITER is a unique project presenting unique challenges. Together with our global partners we have a responsibility to develop secure and sustainable energy sources for the future and ITER could enable us to make great progress towards this goal. We also have a responsibility to ensure that the project is carried out in the most cost-effective and efficient way. The outcome of today's Council is a step in the right direction, and the Commission will follow its implementation very closely to make sure it really delivers the needed improvements. "
ITER is part of the EU strategy to address security of energy supply and climate change. It has been identified in the Strategic Energy Technology Plan as one of the long-term key technology milestones to meet the 2050 objectives of reducing CO2 emissions and energy dependency.
Background
ITER is an international project of scientific collaboration designed to build an experimental reactor which will reproduce the physical reaction - fusion - that occurs in the sun and stars. ITER aims to do this at a scale and in conditions that will demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion as an energy source for the future.
The agreement between the 7 Parties – the EU, China, US, Japan, Korea, India and Russia – was signed on 26 November 2006 and came into force on 24 October 2007.
EURATOM's contribution is managed by the EU Domestic Agency, "Fusion for Energy" established in March 2007.
For more information:
ITER Organization website:
Link to Fusion for Energy website