ITER governing council pushes schedule back five years and trims budget
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029905
Science : On Thursday, after examining a report from outside experts , the governing council of the ITER fusion project announced that the scheduled startup date for the reactor would be pushed back 5 years to December 2025. They also slightly trimmed the expected costs of the next several years of construction and the first years of operation down to just under €4 billion ($4.5 billion). The cost savings are expected to come from delaying the construction of some components of the system, which aren’t necessary for the initial startup, until after the facility creates its first plasma. The additional funding is on top of the €18 billion already funded, but the council says that stretching out the schedule will lower the annual costs to contributing countries.
