The study of burning plasmas has been identified as the next major step in the world fusion program. The worldwide community of fusion researchers has reached a consensus that the scientific and technological basis is sufficient to proceed to a burning plasma experiment — one in which the plasma is heated predominantly by alpha particles produced in deuterium-tritium fusion reactions.

An unprecedented international collaboration of scientists and engineers has performed needed research and development and designed a burning plasma experiment called ITER, which in Latin means "the way." The fusion power produced by ITER will be at least 10 times greater than the external power delivered to heat the plasma.

The United States has joined the European Union, Japan, the Russian Federation, China, Korea, and India in negotiations for the establishment of the ITER Joint Implementation Agreement.

ITER will be built in Cadarache, France, with operation beginning by the end of 2016. Additional information can be found at http://www.iter.org.