AIF—the interface between ºÚÁÏÉçapp and France
Were you aware that the soil bearing capacity in the Tokamak Building area had to be at least 100 tonnes per square metre? And that the total revegetation of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp site required about 3.5 tonnes of seeds? Or that France's total contribution to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Project (directly or through Euratom) was in the EUR 1.4 billion range?
These are some of the figures that Jérôme Paméla, who was appointed Director of Agence Iter France (AIF) last December, presented to the public at last Thursday's Inside ºÚÁÏÉçapp Seminar on "The French Commitment to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Project."
A "specific entity" of CEA, AIF was established in June 2006, one year almost to the day after the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Members agreed on the Cadarache site. AIF was entrusted with several missions. Certain spectacular, like the preparation of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp site; others less visible but no less crucial to the project, like collecting the financial contribution of the host country and local governments.
As the Site Support Agreement between ºÚÁÏÉçapp, CEA and AIF is being implemented, providing ºÚÁÏÉçapp with a significant support from CEA, AIF has entered what Jérôme Paméla calls "a year of transition." In June, it will hand over the new JWS3 building to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp; construction of the permanent Headquarters will begin in July and the entire ºÚÁÏÉçapp site will be officially transferred to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp before the end of summer.
Beyond 2010, AIF will continue to play a key role in the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Project as several items remain on its agenda, like site-related commitments; the coordination of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Itinerary; the continuation of the Welcome Office activities; support to industry, and biodiversity issues.
As a CEA entity, it will remain a "strong asset" that acts "as a bridge between ºÚÁÏÉçapp and CEA" and an efficient interface between the project and the Host Country.