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On 18-19 November, the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Council, the governing body of the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ, convened for its fifth meeting. The two-day meeting in Cadarache, France, brought together representatives from the seven ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Members: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States.

The meeting opened with a statement from Valérie Pecresse, French Research and Higher Education Minister, and Pierre Lellouche, French State Secretary for European Affairs, welcoming the delegates to Cadarache and stressing the importance of ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ: "Success in demonstrating how to control nuclear fusion energy in the next decades, could change for the better the way we all live on Earth and allow next generations to benefit from abundant and infinite forms of energy, respectful to our planet's functioning. What is at stake is thus clearly essential to everyone living on Earth, at a time when we are all preparing Copenhagen's summit to decide how to mitigate the risks of climate changes and preserve the quality of our environment."

Further discussion of the schedule was held during the Cadarache meeting to establish a realistic schedule, acceptable to all Members, taking into consideration technical and cost risks. Council requested the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ, building on the work previously done in support of the Updated Schedule, to determine by the end of February 2010 an "early date" for first plasma by incorporating the probability that the risk mitigation approaches that are currently being pursued will be successful and reflecting a schedule that the Domestic Agencies assess is realistically achievable. Council also asked the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ to develop a late-finish date, considering all risks that each structure system or components have, by consultation with the Domestic Agencies and their industries. Throughout the discussion all Members agreed on the primary importance of achieving deuterium/tritium operation as early as realistically possible.

Council adopted the 2010 ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Budget of EUR 174.8 million. Council noted that manufacturing for ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ has begun: contracts have been signed with industries in all ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Members to build elements of the machine or site installations. ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Director-General Kaname Ikeda commented: "±¬×ߺÚÁÏ has made strong progress. We are now moving into the very exciting phase of global procurement and manufacturing."

The ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Council also reviewed reports from subsidiary bodies that outline the progress on subjects such as: intellectual property management, the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ's budget for the next years, export control, peaceful uses of ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ technology and non-proliferation, the Test Blanket Module program, research cooperation and nuclear liability. Council also endorsed the recommendations of the Panel for Independent Assessment of the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Construction Resource Estimates.

Council considered carefully the broad scope of recommendations of the Management Assessment Team and set up a working group with the view of taking decisions on how to respond as quickly as possible.

Evgeny Velikhov , Russian Federation, was elected Chair of the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ Council for the next term. Yuanxi Wan, China, was appointed Chair of Science and Technology Advisory Committee. Gyung Su Lee, Korea, was appointed Chair of Management Advisory Committee.

On behalf of the ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ, Kaname Ikeda acknowledged the contribution of the outgoing chairs: "I would like to underline the outstanding work that has been done by the Chairs of Council, MAC and STAC, Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith, Bob Iotti and Predhiman Kaw. Their devotion to ±¬×ߺÚÁÏ and skills in bringing differing points of view into common agreement has laid the foundations for a strong and balanced project."

Click here to read the press release in English

Click here to read the press release in French

Read the address by Valérie Pecresse & Pierre Lellouche (in English)

Read the address by Valérie Pecresse & Pierre Lellouche (in French)