"This is real . . . we've got a project on our hands."-
DOE Office of Science Director Ray Orbach
Earlier today, an announcement was made in Moscow that representatives
of the United States, European Union, Japan, the Russia Federation,
China and Korea had agreed that ITER will be located in Cadarache, France.
In a telephone briefing from Moscow, Raymond Orbach, the Director of
the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the U.S. minister
at this meeting, described the "most moving ceremony" that
cleared a substantial hurdle for the experimental international fusion
reactor. In describing this meeting, Orbach spoke several times of "a
sense of community," and a feeling that "the world had come
together" to determine if fusion energy, through ITER, was feasible.
The agreement signed in Moscow will resolve a major difficulty surrounding
U.S. participation in ITER. The United States withdrew from ITER participation
in 1998 because of concerns about the projected cost and management.
On January 30, 2003, then Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced
that the U.S. would rejoin the negotiations to build and operate ITER
(see http://www.aip.org/fyi/2003/013.html.)
In remarks to the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee after that
announcement, Orbach said that President Bush is a strong supporter
of fusion energy, seeing it as a key component of releasing America
from the straitjacket of imported oil (see http://www.aip.org/fyi/2003/035.html
.) ITER was identified as Priority #1 of twenty-eight projects in the
twenty year facility plan for the Office of Science that was released
in late 2003 (see page 14 of http://www.sc.doe.gov/Sub/Facilities_for_future/facilities_future.htm
.)
Congress has been both supportive and skeptical about fusion energy.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee report released last week, the
appropriators stated: "The Committee has reduced funding for
the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor [ITER] by $28,000,000,
equal to the amount domestic research has been increased. The Committee
is disappointed that a decision has not been made in selecting a site
for the location of this international burning plasma user facility.
Without a final decision on a location or allocation, the Committee
is skeptical the Department will be able to expend the full budget request
for this project in fiscal year 2006. If a site is selected, the Committee
will work with the Department to provide an allocation that is consistent
with the expected needs for this project." (See http://www.aip.org/fyi/2005/098.html
.) At a House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee
hearing on the FY 2006 budget request, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
asked Orbach about the ITER siting problem, questioning why funding
for the domestic program should be reduced even though a site had not
been selected (see http://www.aip.org/fyi/2005/033.html.)
The long-running controversy over whether ITER should be sited in France
or Japan has loomed over the project to the extent that Orbach said
in today's briefing that he was worried a skeptical Congress would see
this as an unresolvable stalemate. Today's agreement, he said, has "given
reality to the project."
DOE's site at http://www.science.doe.gov/
provides the details of today's agreement. The agreement is 2 ½
pages long, stating as "common understandings" that ITER should
be implemented by the ITER Organization, "with the possibility
of accession by any state or international organization subject to unanimous
agreement of the Parties"; "ITER shall be sited at Cadarache,
France"; that cost-sharing and allocations should be as previously
agreed upon; and that other Parties of the Agreement may participate
in "the Broader Approach [research] activities that will be implemented
through bilateral cooperation between EURATOM and the Government of
Japan." A two-page Joint Paper on "The Roles of the Host and
the non-Host for the ITER Project" is attached to the agreement.
It calls for the Host to contribute 50% of the estimated cost of ITER
construction, with the non-Host(s) each contributing 10%. There are
additional details regarding the procurement of components, the selection
of the Director-General and staffing of the ITER Organization, headquarters
functions, and weighted voting. Of note is the final statement, "If
the future demonstration reactor, DEMO, is realized in the framework
of an international co-operation, the Host will support the candidature
of the non-Host to host DEMO."
In his remarks at the Moscow ceremony today, Orbach described the next
steps for the U.S. as follows: "The United States looks forward
to getting ITER construction underway as soon as practicable. To be
successful, however, the ITER negotiations must resolve not only the
siting of the project, and an agreed-upon financial and procurement
arrangement, but also critical management and oversight arrangements.
In these negotiations, the U.S. will continue to strive for a robust
management structure and an oversight program based on the principles
of equity, accountability and transparency to ensure both the success
of the project and the best use of American taxpayer dollars."
Looking ahead, Orbach thought the agreement could be initialed by the
end of the year, to be followed by an additional three to four months
for review. The signing of an agreement could occur next spring, with
construction to start soon after. Construction would take approximately
eight years. While it would be known within a few years of start up
if the machine works, it would probably take, Orbach predicted, up to
ten years to reach optimum performance. Following a successful DEMO
facility demonstration, commercial utilities might be able to produce
between 10 - 20% of their power from fusion by the end of the century.
There is considerable concern on Capitol Hill, and in some sections
of the fusion community, about the financial impact of ITER on the domestic
fusion energy sciences program. Orbach addressed this question in his
briefing today, stating that he was "committed to a very strong
domestic program," calling it "essential" to the success
of ITER. Director Orbach explained that the domestic program would be
restructured around ITER. There was considerable language about the
impact of ITER funding on the domestic program in the recent House and
Senate Appropriations Committee reports (see http://www.aip.org/fyi/2005/072.html
and http://www.aip.org/fyi/2005/098.html
.) In addition, the House agreed to an amendment by House Science Committee
Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) during its consideration of the FY
2006 funding bill that stated: "None of the funds made available
by this Act may be used before March 1, 2006, to enter into an agreement
obligating the United States to contribute funds to ITER, the international
burning plasma fusion research project in which the President announced
United States participation on January 30, 2003." Said Boehlert
to his colleagues: "We have time to ensure that the Administration
and the Congress and the fusion science community agree on how we're
going to pay for ITER before we sign on the dotted line."
In a statement released today by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, he
stated: "Plentiful, reliable energy is critical to continued
worldwide economic development. Fusion technologies have the potential
to transform how energy is produced and provide significant amounts
of safe, environmentally-friendly power in the future. The ITER project
will make this vision a reality." The coming months will be
crucial ones for the Administration, Congress, the U.S. fusion community,
and the ITER Organization in realizing the vision Secretary Bodman spoke
of.
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