Broader Approach
August 2007
1. What is the Broader Approach?
(1) International cooperation project carried out by Japan and EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community) on a time frame compatible with the ITER construction phase (about 10 years' duration), which deals with important subjects together with ITER project.
(2) As for the projects implemented within the framework of the Broader Approach, Japan and EURATOM stipulated candidate projects in the document "The roles of the Host and the non-Host for the ITER Project" on 5th May 2005, and finally shared the common understanding that the projects selected by non-Host which did not host ITER, either Japan or EURATOM, would be carried out in the territory of non-Host. The above document was adopted as the attached document of the joint declaration on the occasion of the six-party ministerial meeting for ITER on 28th June, 2005.
2. Subject Matter of the Broader Approach
(1) Decision of ITER construction in the territory of EURATOM on the occasion of the six-party ministerial meeting in June 2005 resulted in the implementation of the Broader Approach in Japan. The following projects are selected as the Broader Approach projects to be carried out in Japan on the basis of the opinions formed in the domestic expert meetings, which projects were approved by EURATOM;
(a) Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities for the IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility)
(b) Construction of IFERC (International Fusion Energy Research Center)
- Establishment of ITER Remote Experimentation Center
- Establishment of Computational Simulation Center for fusion science
- Design Research and Development Coordination Activities for a future demonstration power reactor by international cooperation team
(c) Construction of Satellite Tokamak, the fusion experimental device which complements ITER experiments
note: (a) and (b) will be implemented in Rokkasho, Aomori and (c) in Naka, Ibaraki
(2) Japan and EURATOM equally share the total amount of the project cost of about 92 billion yen (16 percent of the ITER construction cost).
3. Present Status of the Broader Approach
The Agreement between the Government of Japan and the European Atomic Energy Community for the Joint Implementation of the Broader Approach Activities in the Field of Fusion Energy Research, which provides the legal framework of the implementation of the Broader Approach, was signed on February 2007. The Agreement entered into force in June 2007 after the completion of internal procedure for conclusion of the Agreement in Japan and EURATOM.
After the entry into force of the Agreement, 1st Steering Committee on the Broader Approach Activities was held in Tokyo on June 2007. The Parties discussed the work program, structural framework etc.
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