{"id":269289,"date":"2023-07-25T12:01:51","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T10:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269289"},"modified":"2023-07-25T12:01:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T10:01:54","slug":"iter-fusion-energy-project-record-setting-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269289","title":{"rendered":"ITER Fusion Energy Project: \u2018Record-setting Disaster\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Kennedy Maize\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWith each passing decade, this record-breaking monument to big international science looks less and less like a cathedral\u2014and more like a mausoleum.\u201d \u2014\u00a0Scientific American<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The 35-nation International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, advertised as \u201cthe way to new energy<\/a>,\u201d has hit another snag. \u201cThe world\u2019s biggest fusion experiment,\u201d Bloomberg\u00a0reported<\/a>, \u201cfaces new delays and potentially billions of dollars in extra costs after defective pieces and broken supply chains disrupted the reactor\u2019s construction in southern France.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was bad news at the 32nd annual meeting of the ITER, with a bland press release describing activity but little else. \u201cCouncil Members reaffirmed their strong belief in the value of the ITER mission and resolved to work together to find timely solutions to facilitate ITER\u2019s success.\u201d[1]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The week before the meeting,\u00a0Scientific American<\/em>\u00a0exposed problems in the article,\u00a0\u201cWorld\u2019s Largest Fusion Project Is in Big Trouble, New Documents Reveal<\/a>.\u201d The article by veteran science writer (and mathematician) Charles Seife, based on internal ITER documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed this year, reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

ITER is on the verge of a record-setting disaster as accumulated schedule slips and budget overruns threaten to make it the most delayed\u2014and most cost-inflated\u2014science project in history.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Documents prepared for a ITER council meeting last year, Seife wrote, showed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

at the time, the project was bracing for a three-year delay\u2014a doubling of internal estimates prepared just six months earlier. And in the year since those documents were written, the already grim news out of ITER has unfortunately only gotten worse. Yet no one within the ITER Organization has been able to provide estimates of the additional delays, much less the extra expenses expected to result from them. Nor has anyone at the U.S. Department of Energy, which is in charge of the nation\u2019s contributions to ITER, been able to do so. When contacted for this story, DOE officials did not respond to any questions by the time of publication.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

ITER<\/a>\u00a0(Latin for \u201cthe path\u201d) issued an intentionally bland\u00a0news release<\/a>\u00a0June 22, following the meeting of its governing council at the headquarters in St Paul-Lez-Durance. Bloomberg parsed the press statement and focused on its statement that the council \u201crequested the Director-General to continue moving forward expeditiously with preparation of the updated project baseline proposal for review and approval in 2024,\u201d The review and approval of the baseline for the Tokamak magnetic confinement project was originally scheduled for 2023, Bloomberg noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ITER had its beginning in 1978 as a proposal for an international program to develop a Tokomak fusion project. While the project moved forward with little attention beyond technical circles, it burst upon the public scene during the 1985 Geneva summit between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Geneva, the two major world leaders agreed to cooperate on fusion R&D, issuing a statement that said that \u201cthe potential importance of the work aimed at utilizing controlled thermonuclear fusion for peaceful purposes and, in this connection, advocated the widest practicable development of international cooperation in obtaining this source of energy, which is essentially inexhaustible, for the benefit of all mankind.\u201d Reagan then touted the collaboration in a joint session of the U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. then had an\u00a0on-again, off-again relationship<\/a>\u00a0with the project as it began to put together what became ITER. The U.S. pulled out of the planning in 1998, complaining that the projected $10 billion cost was excessive. When the planners scaled back to effort to $5 billion in 2002, the U.S. rejoined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officially launched in 2006, ITER is\u00a0funded and run by seven member parties<\/a>:\u00a0China<\/a>, the\u00a0European Union<\/a>,\u00a0India<\/a>,\u00a0Japan<\/a>,\u00a0Russia<\/a>,\u00a0South Korea<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0United States<\/a>. The\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>\u00a0participates through\u00a0EU<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0Fusion for Energy<\/a>\u00a0(F4E),\u00a0Switzerland<\/a>\u00a0participates through\u00a0Euratom<\/a>\u00a0and F4E, and the project has cooperation agreements with Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Thailand. Europe provides about 45% of the ITER funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ITER was originally funded at $6 billion, with an estimated date for fusion demonstration of 10 years. The current official cost estimate is $22 billion, although several unofficial estimates are in the $30-$45 billion range. The current operational estimate is 2025, although that figure appears to be fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the documents Seife obtained, ITER in November 2021 was already looking at a 17-month delay. \u201cBy the time of the June 2022 ITER Council meeting,\u201d he wrote, \u201cthe number had doubled to roughly 35 months of delays\u2014enough to easily add billions of dollars to ITER\u2019s already bloated budget. But this timeline didn\u2019t reflect other events bound to introduce even more delays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project faces supply chain delays, faulty thermal shields, and manufacturing flaws that are out of specifications, according to Laban Coblentz, ITER\u2019s communications chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project also faces regulatory problems with the French Nuclear Safety Authority, which ordered ITER to stop assembling the fusion reactor in January 2022, raising doubts about the adequacy of the radiation shielding designed to protect workers. In its understated press release following the council meeting, ITER said updating the timeline will require \u201cClose and effective engagement with the French regulator, Autorit\u00e9 de s\u00fbret\u00e9 nucl\u00e9aire (ASN), regarding their questions related to the machine assembly \u2018hold point,\u2019 and ensuring mutual alignment on the way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his is\u00a0Scientific American<\/em>\u00a0article, Seife suggested that ITER has come to resemble a Gothic cathedral: \u201ca beautiful but immensely complex structure that we pray will help us find salvation from our energy and climate woes.\u201d Then he rejected that metaphor, concluding, \u201cWith each passing decade, this record-breaking monument to big international science looks less and less like a cathedral\u2014and more like a mausoleum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1] The boiler-plate\u00a0mission<\/a>\u00a0is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

ITER\u2014designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power\u2014will be<\/em>
the world\u2019s largest experimental fusion facility. Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and the stars:<\/em>
when light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released.<\/em>
Fusion research is aimed at developing a safe, abundant and environmentally responsible energy source.<\/em>
ITER is also a first-of-a-kind global collaboration. Europe is contributing almost half of the costs of its<\/em>
construction, while the other six Members to this joint international venture (China, India, Japan, the<\/em>
Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States), are contributing equally to the rest.<\/em>
The ITER Project is under construction in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, in the south of France.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ITER was originally funded at $6 billion, with an estimated date for fusion demonstration of 10 years. The current official cost estimate is $22 billion, although several unofficial estimates are in the $30-$45 billion range. The current operational estimate is 2025, although that figure appears to be fantasy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":269297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821336],"class_list":{"0":"post-269289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-international-thermonuclear-experimental-reactor-iter","10":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/00Calque-512-1536x693-1.png?fit=1536%2C693&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-183n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":367477,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367477","url_meta":{"origin":269289,"position":0},"title":"New French Nuclear Fusion Record \u2013 22 Minutes","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/24\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"No doubt nuclear fusion is just 20 years away, just like last time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"France\u2019s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)\"","block_context":{"text":"France\u2019s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=frances-atomic-energy-commission-cea"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/00Screenshot-2025-02-24-100108.png?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/00Screenshot-2025-02-24-100108.png?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/00Screenshot-2025-02-24-100108.png?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/00Screenshot-2025-02-24-100108.png?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/00Screenshot-2025-02-24-100108.png?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":337517,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=337517","url_meta":{"origin":269289,"position":1},"title":"Nuclear Fusion: More Government Fail","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/25\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe fusion propaganda machine has produced a wave of mostly offbeat projects, more than 40 since 2018 by one estimate. 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