▁methods ▁of ▁power ▁generation , ▁which ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 7 ▁tot aled ▁US $ 1 6 . 9 ▁billion . ▁ ▁Supp or ters ▁of ▁I TER ▁emphas ize ▁that ▁the ▁only ▁way ▁to ▁test ▁ideas ▁for ▁with standing ▁the ▁inten se ▁neut ron ▁flux ▁is ▁to ▁experiment ally ▁subject ▁materials ▁to ▁that ▁flux , ▁which ▁is ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁primary ▁miss ions ▁of ▁I TER ▁and ▁the ▁IF M IF , ▁and ▁both ▁facilities ▁will ▁be ▁vit ally ▁important ▁to ▁that ▁effort . ▁The ▁purpose ▁of ▁I TER ▁is ▁to ▁explore ▁the ▁scientific ▁and ▁engineering ▁questions ▁that ▁surr ound ▁potential ▁fusion ▁power ▁stations . ▁It ▁is ▁nearly ▁impossible ▁to ▁ac quire ▁satisf actory ▁data ▁for ▁the ▁properties ▁of ▁materials ▁expected ▁to ▁be ▁subject ▁to ▁an ▁inten se ▁neut ron ▁flux , ▁and ▁burning ▁pl as mas ▁are ▁expected ▁to ▁have ▁quite ▁different ▁properties ▁from ▁extern ally ▁he ated ▁pl as mas . ▁Supp or ters ▁cont end ▁that ▁the ▁answer ▁to ▁these ▁questions ▁requires ▁the ▁I TER ▁experiment , ▁especially ▁in ▁the ▁light ▁of ▁the ▁monument al ▁potential ▁benefits . ▁ ▁Furthermore , ▁the ▁main ▁line ▁of ▁research ▁via ▁to k am aks ▁has ▁been ▁developed ▁to ▁the ▁point ▁that ▁it ▁is ▁now ▁possible ▁to ▁undert ake ▁the ▁pen ult imate ▁step ▁in ▁magnetic ▁conf in ement ▁pl asma ▁physics ▁research ▁with ▁a ▁self - s ust ained ▁reaction . ▁In ▁the ▁to k am ak ▁research ▁program , ▁recent ▁adv ances ▁devoted ▁to ▁cont rolling ▁the ▁configuration ▁of ▁the