ITER Background & Indian participation
Fossil fuels were the energy source that shaped 19th and 20th century civilization. But burning coal, oil and gas has proved highly damaging to our environment. Carbon dioxide emissions, greenhouse effect gases, and fumes all contribute to the disruption in the balance of our planet's climate.
Global energy consumption is set to triple by the end of the century. And yet supplies of fossil fuels are depleting and the environmental consequences of their exploitation are serious. Two questions loom over humanity today: how will we supply all this new energy, and how can we do so without adding dangerously to atmospheric greenhouse gases?
No single nation can face these challenges alone.
International Collaboration for a New Source of Energy
Twenty-three years ago, a group of industrial nations agreed on a project to develop a new, cleaner, sustainable source of energy.
At the Geneva Superpower Summit in November 1985, following discussions with President Mitterand of France and Prime Minister Thatcher of the United Kingdom, General Secretary Gorbachev of the former Soviet Union proposed to President Reagan of the United States an international project aimed at developing fusion energy for peaceful purposes.
US President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev of the Soviet Union agreeing to pursue an international effort to develop fusion energy for the benefit of all mankind. Geneva, 1985.
The ITER project was born. The initial signatories: the former Soviet Union, the USA, the European Union (via EURATOM) and Japan, were joined by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea in 2003, and by India in 2005. Together, these seven nations represent over half of the world's population.
In ITER, the world has now joined forces to establish one of the largest and most ambitious international science projects ever conducted. ITER, which means "the way" in Latin, will require unparalleled levels of international scientific collaboration. Key plant components, for example, will be provided to the ITER Organization through in-kind contributions from the seven Members. Each Member has set up a domestic agency, employing staff to manage procurements for its in-kind contributions. The ITER Members have agreed to share every aspect of the project: science, procurements, finance, staffing ... with the aim that in the long run each Member will have the know-how to produce its own fusion energy plant.
Selecting a location for ITER was a long process that was finally concluded in 2005. In Moscow, on June 28, high representatives of the ITER Members unanimously agreed on the site proposed by the European Union - the ITER installation would be built at Cadarache, near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France.
ITER Agreement is signed
The ITER Agreement was officially signed at the Elyse Palace in Paris on 21 November 2006 by Ministers from the seven ITER Members. In a ceremony hosted by French President Jacques Chirac and the President of the European Commission M. Jos Manuel Durao Barroso, this Agreement established a legal international entity to be responsible for construction, operation, and decommissioning of ITER.
Elyse Palace, Paris, France on November 21, 2006. (Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Dr. Anil Kakodkar can be seen 3rd from right)
A "Broader Approach" agreement for complementary research and development was signed in February 2007 between the European Atomic Energy Community (known by its initials EURATOM) and the Japanese government. It established a framework for Japan to conduct research and development in support of ITER over a period of ten years. Within the Broader Approach three projects were set into motion that focus on the following areas: materials testing, advanced plasma experimentation and simulation, and the establishment of a design team to prepare for DEMO, the demonstration power plant which will be the next step after ITER. The Broader Approach projects carry great importance for the advancement of fusion energy and will complement the global efforts on realizing ITER.
On 24 October 2007, following ratification by all Members, the ITER Agreement entered into force and officially established the ITER Organization.
July 2007: Union Cabinet approves Indian participation in ITER project
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the following:
i) To the project titled Indian Participation in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, at a base cost of Rs 2500 crore. The FE component calculated at base cost will be Rs 1129 crore.
ii) To constitute an Empowered Board by the Governing Council of Institute for Plasma Research with sufficient powers required for effective implementation of the project within the framework of the agreement signed among the parties to the ITER and ITER International Organisation and also within the sanctioned amount for the project of Rs 2500 crore. This shall, inter alia, include:
a) Full financial powers, particularly powers in respect of single limited and restricted tendering process and administrative powers to the total extent of the budgetary sanction and resource allocation for the project.
b) Full autonomy in laying down the rules, procedures and guidelines for financial, administrative and any other matters related to the execution of the project.
c) Full autonomy in deciding the delegation of powers in financial and administrative matters in conformity with the various stipulations and guidelines of the Government and Central Vigilance Commission.
d) Power to create posts and lay down suitable recruitment norms depending upon size and nature of activities subject to over all sanctioned manpower requirement.
To ensure this the Empowered Board, in turn, shall frame administratively and financially sound policies and put into place procedurally transparent rules, regulations and practices.
Indias joining ITER is recognition of Indias scientific and technical capability in fusion energy.
Considering Indias large energy needs in future, our gaining technological capability in fusion energy will be of considerable long term benefit.
Indias participation in ITER will allow India to leapfrog in terms of our national technological capability in fusion energy.
Euphoric Indian media reacts
Aiming for the sun: India joins the world
India will join the United States, Russia, China, Japan, the European Union and Korea in a 4.6 billion euro ($5.4 billion or Rs 25,000 crore) experimental fusion reactor project, it was revealed on Wednesday.
If you are wondering just what that means, read on:
What is ITER?
It stands for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which is supposed to harness fusion energy to produce energy for civilian purposes. Fusion is the process of fusing two small nuclei to form a bigger nucleus. It is the process by which the sun radiates energy and by which hydrogen bombs work. In the sun, hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium, emitting vast amounts of nuclear energy.
Fusion is the opposite of fission, which is the principle by which atom bombs work by splitting a heavy nucleus into two smaller nuclei.
But ITER -- pronounced like 'fitter' without the 'f' -- is all about making the energy released in the fusion process work for mankind, not against it.
Incidentally, ITER means 'the way' in Latin. Experts believe with fossil fuel reserves fast depleting, nuclear energy is the way to meet mankind's ever-increasing energy needs.
Why nuclear fusion?
Because fuel required for fusion is abundant and inexhaustible, the fusion process is considered safe, and fusion plants do not damage the environment.
So why haven't countries taken to fusion energy in a big way?
Since the 1950s, scientists all over the world have been trying to harness fusion energy for peaceful uses. But, so far, the fusion machines have been able to produce only small amounts of energy. ITER plans to change that.
Where and when will ITER be built?
ITER is being constructed in southern France at Cadarache, near the Aix-en-Provence. It should be operational by 2016.
How much energy are we talking about here?
As mentioned before, fusion powers the sun and the stars. So, theoretically, fusion can yield huge amounts of energy. But ITER is aiming at producing 500 MW of energy.
When was ITER planned?
Plans for ITER began in 1985. After many rounds of negotiations and planning -- which are unavoidable for a project that involves so many countries -- the work on the design of the reactor started on in 2001. Even as you read this, ITER's design is being finetuned in Naka, near Tokyo, Japan, and in Garching, near Munich, Germany. Teams of scientists from the participating countries are also working on it.
Why was India included?
As Dr V P Raja, head of the Indian delegation in Jeju, Republic of Korea, said: "Our scientists have already designed and fabricated two tokamak devices [a kind of nuclear reactor, the ITER will also be a tokamak device] Aditya and the steady state superconducting tokamak SST 1. Many technologies of relevance to the forefront of fusion research have been developed by our scientists and engineers in collaboration with our industries. We thus bring to the table a combination of strong commitment from the government and special scientific and technological skills, which are of relevance to ITER and to fusion research."
The whisper in official circles is also that India's inclusion into the ITER project is a result of the India-US nuclear agreement of July 18.
Aiming for the sun: India joins the world
Indias contributions to the ITER project
ITER will be built mostly through in-kind contributions by the seven partners, meaning they will build their share of ITER components through an appropriately formed Domestic Agency (DA) and industries and deliver them to ITER for final assembly of the device.
India will be contributing, like other partners except the host EU, about 10% of the ITER construction cost (EU pays about 40% coz the ITER is being built in France and rest of the six members including India contribute 10% each).
Most of this will be in the form of components made by the Indian industry and delivered to ITER.Only a small part (~1%) will be paid in cash to a common fund for in-cash procurements by the ITER International Team.
Following are the ITER components to be delivered by India:
Cryostat and Vacuum vessel pressure suppression system
Vessel ferromagnetic inserts
Cryolines and cryo-distribution system
Heat rejection and water cooling system components
Ion Cyclotron heating and current drive sources, power supplies and control systems
Startup Electron Cyclotron heating source, power supply and control system
Diagnostic Neutral Beam
Some diagnostic systems
Nuclear Fusion Research in India
Nuclear Fusion research in India is primarily carried out in the Institute for Plasma Research (though other institutions like BARC are involved too). IPR is an autonomous Physics research institute, involved in research in various aspects of plasma science including basic plasma physics, research on magnetically confined hot plasmas and plasma technologies for industrial applications. Apart from basic research, the institute is currently in the process of building a Steady State Superconducting Tokamak (SST-1). A Tokamak is a kind of nuclear reactor (the ITER will also be a tokamak device). IPR has previously built a Tokamak called ADITYA.
