ITER is an international consortium that is planning to build a 500 megawatt fusion reactor by 2016. Fusion power is the holy grail of the energy industry because it uses relatively inexpensive fuel (hydrogen), creates little contaminated nuclear waste, and can generate large amounts of power.
Advanced engineering is underway, and one of the goals of the project is to use pre-qualified and off the shelf materials and components. The ITER fusion reactor will generate ten times more power than it needs to maintain the fusion reaction.
A usable fusion power plant would replace coal and oil power plants, and would have a dramatic impact on CO2 emissions, which may contribute to global warming. Fusion plants would also be pollution free. China, which uses a lot of coal that is causing pollution problems, is a partner in the project.