« Program historical record »

November 1985 :  at the Geneva summit the Soviet Union proposed building a new generation Tokamak (nuclear fusion reactor) within the framework of international co-operation including three other major partners of the fusion programme: The United States, Japan and the European Union.

1992 : signing of the ITER agreement under the auspices of The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gathering together four partners: The United States, Japan, Russia, and the European Union and associating Switzerland and Canada.

1998 : end of the first phase of the detailed engineering study. The United States withdraws from the co-operation. The remaining partners define a new strategy with the aim of reducing project cost but all the while maintaining scientific objectives.

2001 : handing over the final report and commitment to the process of international negotiation.

January 2003 : The United States and China join the negotiation table, followed by South Korea.

26 November 2003 : Cadarache in the Pays d'Aix becomes the European candidate site for the reception of ITER.

26 November 2004 : at the competitive council of ministers for research, the European ministers for research confirm their decision to launch the construction of ITER at Cadarache.

6 December 2004 : creation of the association "ITER Success" on the initiative of Maryse Joissains Masini, President of the CPA (Pays d'Aix Community). This association has the objective of informing about, promoting, and improving the local image of the project, as well as protection of areas and will reunite all the town councils concerned by the programme.

28 June 2005 : signing of the international agreement between Japan, China, South Korea, The United States and the European Union officially validating construction of the ITER site at Cadarache.

2nd half year 2005 : launching of the public debate.