ITER is currently under construction in France.
Italian electrical engineer Pietro Barabaschi, who has spent his entire career in fusion research, will take over as director general of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in October.
According to Nature, Barabaschi is currently the acting director of the European Fusion Energy Organization. This organization is the consortium body responsible for managing the European contribution of ITER.
ITER is currently the largest nuclear fusion project in the world. Since 2015, Bernard Bigot has been the Director General of ITER. Eisuke Tada served as interim director general following Bigot's death in May of this year. In October, the baton will pass to Barabaschi.
ITER aims to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy. The $22 billion project, which is being co-operated by China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, has faced a series of management issues such as delays and soaring costs.
Currently ITER is scheduled to start operation in 2025, but the review results are not satisfactory, and the operation date may be postponed.
Makoto Sugimoto, head of Japan's ITER agency, said Bigot was a great leader that no one could emulate, "but I think Dr. Barabaschi can lead ITER to success in his own way."
Sugimoto noted that Barabaschi's past experience made him well-equipped for the role, "I believe he has enough knowledge and experience to build ITER".
Fernanda Rimini, a plasma scientist at the UK's Karam Fusion Energy Research Centre, said Barabaschi was involved in the design of the ITER, as well as the Joint European Annular Reactor (JET) project, and he has done well in promoting the work of the European Fusion Energy Organization. For example, he has been leading collaborative projects with Japan since 2009. The project aims to accelerate the eventual realization of commercial fusion energy technology.
In a statement, Barabaschi pledged that, as director general, he will make it a priority to improve the integration of the headquarters of the ITER organization with each of its member institutions.
(Original title "ITER Organization Appoints New Director-General to Take Over in October")