The status of the ITER design

In parallel with a rapid build up to almost 300 people within the International Organization at Cadarache, the project team, including many from the member countries represented by their domestic agencies (DA), has concentrated its effort on an overall design review of ITER. An updated technical baseline was presented to council at the end of 2007. Several additional improvements were included during spring 2008 and it is probable that the results of the review will be accepted by council. As a result, the ITER design today provides a robust basis for a technical design that allows operation over a wide range of physical parameters, a design that can operate stably with high gain and can exploit the full scientific potential of the device. In the technical area, design changes have been integrated to improve performance, provide more robust subsystems and to minimize technical or operational risks. All of the adaptations required to support the licensing process as a nuclear facility in France have been made. In parallel major components are already under construction within the DAs. A full overview of the status of ITER design and construction, including the detailed discussion of the 2007 ITER baseline, is given. In addition, the construction status and the overall project review is presented.