Production at the international experimental nuclear fusion reactor Iter will be delayed by at least eight years and costs will rise by several billion euros, a project manager said on Wednesday.
The date of the first production of plasma, essential for fusion, initially planned for 2025, has been postponed at least until 2033, and Delays and repairs to defective parts will generate additional costs, currently estimated at “five billion” euros.said project managing director Pietro Barabaschi during a press conference to present the new timetable for the project, based in Cadarache, in south-eastern France.
The deadline for the production of “full magnetic energy”, planned for 2033 in the initial schedule presented in 2016, has been extended to 2036.
During a board meeting in late June, member and partner countries (China, South Korea, the United States, India, Japan, the European Union and Russia) agreed to continue the project according to this new schedule, the director said.
The council will still have to decide on the request for additional funding, worth “five billion euros.”“, Barabaschi said.
This decision could come during the next council meeting scheduled for November.
“There is a delay, but we believe we are doing the right thing to achieve the objective with more attention to the risks and minimizing the overall delay of the project,” Barabaschi assured.
Source: Observadora
