EU, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and US to prove the feasibility of nuclear fusion for power production. ITER was originally a collaborative project between the four partners : the European Union, Japan, Russian Federation (originally USSR) and the United States. China and South Korea joined ITER in 2003. India formally expressed her interest to join ITER through a letter from Dr. Anil
Kakodkar, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (India) to Dr. Achilleas Mitsos, Director General-DG Research, European Commission. In response a technical team from EU and then from ITER visited India, especially to Institute for Plasma Research and other Indian industries for negotiations and assess Indian competence to join ITER. Finally at the final ITER negotiations meeting held at Jeju, Korea on the 6th December, 2005 India was accepted as a full partner in the ITER project. Thus India became the 7th and the latest partner to join ITER. With this more than half of the world’s humanity is involved in this unprecedented scientific and technological endeavour. 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.
