<P> In 1978, the European Commission, Japan, United States, and USSR joined in the International Tokamak Reactor (INTOR) Workshop, under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to assess the readiness of magnetic fusion to move forward to the experimental power reactor (EPR) stage, to identify the additional R&D that must be undertaken, and to define the characteristics of such an EPR by means of a conceptual design . Hundreds of fusion scientists and engineers in each participating country took part in a detailed assessment of the then present status of the tokamak confinement concept vis - a-vis the requirements of an EPR, identified the required R&D by early 1980, and produced a conceptual design by mid-1981 . </P> <P> In 1985, at the Geneva summit meeting in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev suggested to Ronald Reagan that the two countries jointly undertake the construction of a tokamak EPR as proposed by the INTOR Workshop . The ITER project was initiated in 1988 . </P> <Table> Project milestones <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Th> Event </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> ITER project officially initiated . Conceptual design activities ran from 1988 to 1990 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Engineering design activities from 1992 to 1998 . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2005 </Td> <Td> India officially became part of ITER . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2006 </Td> <Td> Approval of a cost estimate of € 10 billion (US $12.8 billion) projecting the start of construction in 2008 and completion a decade later . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2008 </Td> <Td> Site preparation start, ITER itinerary start . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2009 </Td> <Td> Site preparation completion . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Tokamak complex excavation starts . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2013 </Td> <Td> Tokamak complex construction starts . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2015 </Td> <Td> Tokamak construction starts, but the schedule is extended by at least six years . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2016 </Td> <Td> The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran formally requests to join ITER . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2017 </Td> <Td> Assembly Hall ready for equipment </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2018 - 2025 </Td> <Td> Assembly and integration </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2025 </Td> <Td> Planned: Assembly ends; commissioning phase starts </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2025 </Td> <Td> Planned: Achievement of first plasma . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 2035 </Td> <Td> Planned: Start of deuterium--tritium operation . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Date </Th> <Th> Event </Th> </Tr>

What is the status of the iter fusion power project