The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is 50 percent complete, according to a December 6 press release.

The ITER, located in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, France, and hailed by its creators as “the world’s most complex machine,” looks to prove that fusion energy can be produced on a sustainable, commercial scale.

The megaproject is considered one of the most complex ever. It looks to use a donut-shaped reactor called a tokamak to heat hydrogen plasma to 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times hotter than the Sun’s core. The tokamak is surrounded by giant superconducting magnets cooled to minus 269 degrees Celsius. The magnets confine and circulate the superheated plasma.

A scientific partnership involving 35 countries is overseeing the construction of ITER in southern France. The completed project will involve 10 million individual parts. On December 1, top-level ITER officials reported that the project is 50 percent of the way toward “First Plasma,” the first stage of functional operation set to begin in December 2025.

The ITER site in early December 2017. Source: ITER

Fusion energy has a number of potential benefits, including power generation free from carbon emissions and efficiency that dwarfs fossil fuels. According to the press release, a pineapple-sized amount of hydrogen can generate as much fusion energy as 10,000 tonnes of coal.

“The stakes are very high for ITER,” says Bernard Bigot, Ph.D., Director-General of ITER. “When we prove that fusion is a viable energy source, it will eventually replace burning fossil fuels, which are non-renewable and non-sustainable. Fusion will be complementary with wind, solar and other renewable energies.”

“ITER’s success has demanded extraordinary project management, systems engineering, and almost perfect integration of our work,” Bigot continued. “Our design has taken advantage of the best expertise of every member’s scientific and industrial base. No country could do this alone. We are all learning from each other, for the world’s mutual benefit.”