A ceremony to celebrate the official beginning of ITER's assembly has been held on the 28 July, co-hosted by the President of the Republic of France, Emmanuel Macron and ITER's Director-General, Bernard Bigot. In addition to a number of recorded messages from senior political figures from the participating countries, EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson gave a speech by video to the attendees gathered in person at the ITER site in Cadarache (France) and via livestream.
Given the ongoing restrictions related to the coronavirus crisis, the ITER Organisation chose to mark the occasion with a hybrid celebration, with representatives from all of the ITER Members attending either in-person or virtually.
The event first consisted of a tour of the ITER worksite, livestreamed for all attendees, followed by the formal ceremony. President Macron and the Director-General Bigot made introductory speeches and talked about the upcoming assembly phase before conducting a global tour, with remarks from Ministerial-level representatives from the EU, the US, Japan, China, Russia, Korea, India, and Germany.
Source: European Commission