Who does what?
The ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ project and its division of tasks between multiple actors can be confusing. Below are some elements of response to the question: "Who does what at ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ?
ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Organization (IO) is responsible for the design of the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ tokamak and its auxiliary systems. The ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Organization will be responsible for machine installation and assembly, beginning in 2015, and operations, beginning in 2020. Like other international organizations such as Unesco or the World Health Organization, the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Organization was established by international treaty. On 21 November 2006 in Paris, France, the seven ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Members signed the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Agreement. On site in Saint Paul-lez-Durance, ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ directly employs approximately 500 staff members representing 30 nationalities.
Domestic Agencies (DAs) were created by each ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Member. There is thus an ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Domestic Agency in China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, the United States and Europe (the European Domestic Agency is located in Barcelona, Spain). These agencies, on behalf of their governments, are charged with procuring the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ components, systems or buildings that fall under each Member's procurement responsibilities to ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ. Europe, with the largest percent of the Project, contributes 45% (including nearly all site buildings), while each of the other Members contributes 9%. The reason for this disparity is that Europe, as Host to the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ project, benefits from the largest amount of economic impact.
Agence Iter France (AIF) is an agency of the French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA). Created to manage the French financial contribution to ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ, it supervised the clearing and levelling activities for the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ site (2007-2009) and the public works on the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Itinerary. It collects the contributions pledged to ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ by local governments and plays a role in welcoming international ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ staff members and their families. Agence Iter France is the interface between the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ project and French authorities and in this capacity oversees, for example, the organization of ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ component transport. It has also organized land acquisition measures to compensate for the clearing of the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ site. When the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ project has come to the end of 20 years of operation in the early 2040s, Agence Iter France will be in charge of site decommissioning and dismantling.