Corona and problems with parts delayed the test start of the fusion reactor: ITER will not start until 2034?

The initial experimental phase of the ITER nuclear fusion reactor in France’s Saint-Paul-lez Durance will probably not start until 2034, later than planned, due to the pandemic and problems with parts, the project team announced.

ITER was supposed to be launched only briefly in 2025 for testing, with low energy levels.

The new plan envisages the first experimental phase of the reactor in 2034, engineers announced on Wednesday.

Instead of a symbolic launch of the plasma in the test of a relatively ‘bare’ machine, we will experiment with the plasma from the very beginning and at least partially compensate for the delay, ITER director Pietro Barabaschi said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Changing the plans will enable more effective mitigation of risks in achieving the project goals, added Barabashi.

The reactor should produce energy by fusion of hydrogen atoms, imitating the processes on the Sun. In order to achieve this, the hydrogen plasma should be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius, and the reactor should eventually produce ten times more energy than it consumes.

The project brought together the EU, USA, Russia, China, India, Japan and South Korea. The works started in 2010, and the costs were estimated at more than 20 billion euros.

Proponents of the project hope that nuclear fusion will provide a climate-friendly, almost inexhaustible source of energy. Critics, on the other hand, claim that ITER councils are overtook renewable energy sources.

Experts in ITER emphasize that the delay of the project should not surprise anyone, considering the pandemic and problems with the quality of individual parts. Numerous parts would not even be available until 2025, when the reactor was supposed to be started, they note.

The change in plans will probably mean additional costs of several billion euros, they warn.