Passing of the ITER Director-General, Dr Bernard Bigot

Dr Bernard Bigot, Director-General of the ITER Organization, passed away today at the age of 72. Dr Bigot has led ITER since 2015 and has been instrumental in shaping the ITER project, the world’s largest experimental fusion facility, under construction in South of France. Dr Bigot was an inspirational leader who transformed the ITER Organization, promoting the "project culture" across the teams of the ITER Organization and those of the ITER members working on the project in the “one project-one team” spirit. Dr Bigot’s leadership brought a strong alignment of all involved in the ITER project that will extend well beyond his lifetime and support further advancement of the project in the coming years.

Dr Bigot was a distinguished scientist and an experienced senior manager, highly respected by the wider scientific community, beyond fusion experts. Before joining ITER, Dr Bigot, had served as the Chairman and CEO of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and also as the French High Commissioner for ITER. Dr Bigot saw fusion energy as key for mankind’s social and economic development and its harnessing on Earth as an opportunity that could not be missed.

As stated by Ms Kadri Simson, the Commissioner for Energy,

Dr Bigot was an exceptional leader who greatly contributed to the advancement of the ITER project through his vision, courageous leadership, personal dedication and enthusiasm. I am deeply saddened by his passing. This is a great loss not only for Europe but also for the global fusion community. We will honour his memory with a renewed commitment to the success of the ITER project.

Background on ITER

ITER is an international research project aiming to construct an experimental nuclear fusion reactor to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of generating electricity from fusion energy. The EU is by far the largest contributor, covering almost half of the cost of its construction. The other six ITER Members are China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA. The ITER device is based on the tokamak principle and is under construction at the Cadarache site in southern France since 2007.