ITER Declared On Budget and On Schedule for First Time After Turnaround

On May 5, 2026, ITER's project leadership publicly declared the 35-nation international tokamak is on budget and on schedule — the first such declaration in the project's history — following management reforms under Director-General Pietro Barabaschi, who took over in late 2022. ITER met all spending targets in 2024 for the first time. Separately, the US ITER organization confirmed final deliveries of the central solenoid magnet components to the Cadarache, France site — a 59-foot, 3,000-tonne superconducting magnet system 15 years in the making. Despite these management improvements, the project's first plasma target remains 2033 (revised from the original 2025 target), with D-T burning plasma targeted for 2039. Total project cost is approximately €20 billion, up from the original ~€5 billion estimate. The declaration represents a significant organizational turnaround but does not alter the revised schedule.