Prompted by the numerous delays and setbacks the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project experienced over the last couple of years, officials in the European Union decided to change the management overseeing the continent's involvement in the research initiative. Europe is the largest contributor in the international cooperation aimed at achieving nuclear fusion, via the Fusion for Energy (F4E) agency, which is based in Barcelona, Spain. Its former director was French physicist Didier Gambier, who has now been replaced with British fusion scientist Frank Briscoe.

The former director took on the job in 2007, and his term was originally scheduled to last for 5 years. However, it would appear that those in control were unsatisfied with his work, as they recently decided to replace Gambier. In addition to sacking the F4E director, the European Union is also taking active measures to ensure that the ITER is brought online by 2019, which is one year later than the current predictions have it, according to Nature News. The magnetic confinement fusion facility (tokamak) is valued at several billion dollars.

For the near future, plans are to begin experimenting with the ITER at full capacity by 2026. By that time, engineers hope to be able to demonstrate the viability and sustainability of nuclear fusion. They plan to use superconducting magnets to show that, by subjecting the plasma of heavy hydrogen isotopes to incredible pressure and to temperatures exceeding 150 million degrees Celsius. According to estimations, the facility will, at that point, begin producing ten times the energy it needs to function. The European Union is in charge of providing the location for the reactor, which is to be built in St-Paul-les-Durance, in France, as well as 45 percent of the funding required to bring it online.

Some believe that the reason why Gambier was fired was because the F4E had failed to award some of the largest contracts associated with the reactor, such as that for the excavations at the construction site – which are already one year behind schedule – and for the vacuum chambers inside. European Commission spokeswoman Catherine Ray said that the EU believed Briscoe would bring forth the change needed to get the ball rolling. “We trust that the new team in the F4E will implement the necessary changes to allow the EU to respect its commitments,” she said.