ITER agreement activated
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) agreement has entered into force, paving the way for the construction of the reactor, which will demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power - the energy source of the sun and the stars. The agreement was signed in November 2006, and was due to enter into force 30 days after the last ratification. China was the last of the seven partners to ratify the document, following the EU, the US, India, South Korea, Russia and Japan. The reactor will be located in Cadarache, France. On 24 October the ITER staff in Cadarache raised their glasses with their colleagues from the seven other parties, participating in the event via a live video-link. ITER is the world's largest scientific collaboration project, representing over half of the world's population. The construction costs of ITER are estimated at €5 billion over 10 years, and another €5 billion are foreseen for the 20-year operation period. 'There have been few occasion when a relatively small group of people can work together to have such an essential impact on the future well-being of our planet,' said ITER Director General Kaname Ikeda on 24 October. 'The nations of the world have understood the need for new sources of energy and the nations of the world have reacted with responsibility and vision. By creating ITER our Member Parties have established a completely new model for international collaboration and it is our challenge to show that outstanding talent coming from many different nationalities can also fuse to create a dynamic workforce,' he added.