The focus of effort in the ITER engineering design activities (EDA) since 1
998 has been the development of a new design to meet revised technical obje
ctives and a cost reduction target of about 50% of the previously accepted
cost estimate.
Drawing on the design solutions already developed and qualified during the
EDA and using the latest physics results and outputs from technology resear
ched development projects, the Joint Central Team and Home Teams, working t
ogether, have been able to converge towards a design which meets, in genera
l, the revised objectives and provides acceptable margins against the unavo
idable uncertainties in performance projections.
The new design will allow the exploration of a range of burning plasma cond
itions in which energetic a-particles are the dominant source of plasma hea
ting and the main determinants of plasma behaviour, with the capacity to pr
ogress towards possible modes of steady state operation. Such plasma perfor
mance both necessitates, and provides a test-bed for, a range of advanced t
echnologies required to establish fusion as a practical energy source. As s
uch the new ITER design, whilst having reduced technical objectives from it
s predecessor, will nonetheless meet the programmatic objective of providin
g an integrated demonstration of the scientific and technological feasibili
ty of fusion energy.
The main features of the current design and of its projected performance ar
e presented and the outlook for construction and operation is discussed.