[Video] Discover the Progress of ITER’s Construction Site

On July 4, 2025, ITER Organization released an immersive video showcasing behind-the-scenes assembly and design processes of the world’s most ambitious tokamak. Experience the construction progress at Cadarache through the perspective of a drone.

In July 2024, ITER’s schedule was reorganized, pushing back the start of the reactor’s initial fusion operations to 2034. However, construction is in full swing, as shown by a video shared by ITER Organization. A drone guides viewers through the heart of the site, providing a May 2025 update on the tokamak’s construction. ITER regularly publishes similar videos on its YouTube channel to keep the public informed about project progress.

A Look at Different Buildings

The video features teams working on assembling tokamak components. Notably, viewers witness the handling—completed in just a few hours (accelerated in the video)—of vacuum chamber section 5. This chamber, formed by the assembly of all sections, is where plasma will be contained during nuclear reactions.

Next, the video highlights the central solenoid, nicknamed the reactor’s “beating heart,” composed of superconducting magnets. This component is crucial to fusion, as it initiates, shapes, controls, and confines the plasma. By May 2025, two-thirds of this component had been installed.

Finally, the video reveals the reactor pit, where the first vacuum chamber section has been positioned since April 2025 after several months of repairs—contributing to delays in the timeline. Other buildings on the site show additional components in various preparation stages, including the cryostat and other vacuum chamber sections.

Fusion Projects Around the World

ITER isn’t the only nuclear fusion project worldwide—or even in France—though it remains the international flagship, involving over 33 countries. At the same Cadarache site, the CEA’s WEST tokamak continues to break records in plasma duration. In the United States, corporate investment shapes the future of fusion, exemplified by Google’s June 2025 power supply contract with a startup developing its own fusion reactor. ■