ITER is a global research project led by the European Union. USA, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and India also participate and, thereby, the project is supported by half of the world’s population. ITER and its fusion reactor that is currently under construction is located in Cadarache in the south of France. The facility is expected to be ready for the first experiments in 2025.
The value of Danish membership
Since the fusion power plant is currently under construction, there are many opportunities for Denmark to receive industrial contracts for Danish companies and institutions. 90 per cent of the construction of ITER is to be done on the basis of so-called “in-kind contributions”, meaning through the funding of private enterprises’ deliveries of components and products for ITER. So far this has resulted in one allocations to a Danish university and a Danish company.
Danish contribution to the membership
The establishment of ITER is estimated to cost more than DKK 100 billion. The European share of the costs is about half of this while the other six partners in ITER, USA, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China and India, cover the remaining costs.
80 per cent of the European share derives from the EU budget, Euratom, while France contributes with the equivalent of 20 per cent of the EU contribution. In addition, the European member countries contribute with approx. DKK 320 million via the European agency, Fusion for Energy (F4E).
Denmark contributes directly to ITER with approx. DKK 0.3 million annually via F4E. Indirectly, Denmark contributes to ITER via the EU budget with approx. DKK 64 million annually (for the period 2007-2020), corresponding to 2 per cent of the EU share.