After a year in limbo, big machines are back at work at the ITER site in Cadarache, France. On 28 July the seven member countries finally signed off on a schedule and committed to funding the fusion test reactor. The cost is hard to pin down because of the inkind contributions, but the European Commission has approved €6.6 billion ($8.7 billion) for its 45% share, which puts the full cost at close to €15 billion. First plasma is slated for November 2019, with the start of deuterium-tritium fusion experiments planned for March 2027 (see Physics Today, April 2010, page 20). Russia’s Evgeny Velikhov, who chairs the ITER council, said the agreement ensures “not only the success of ITER but also the success of fusion.”
The same day the schedule was approved, fusion scientist Osamu Motojima replaced Kaname Ikeda, a former ambassador, at ITER’s helm. Motojima oversaw construction of...