EU, US Sign Nuclear-Fusion Reactor Pact
May 24 2006 - 3:26PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Union, the United
States, and five other nations signed an agreement today to build
the first nuclear- fusion reactor. The aim of the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER, is to provide a new, safe
energy source that will cut oil demand and curb greenhouse-gas
emissions. Costing an estimated 4.57 billion Euros ($5.9 billion),
the project will be the world's biggest scientific collaboration of
its kind and represent over half the world's population. "This is a
truly crucial moment, for the ITER project and for global
scientific co-operation in general," said European Science and
Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik, who hosted the meeting in
Brussels. "Together we are forging a new model for large-scale
global scientific and technical co- operation. We are sending an
important message about seeing the value in working together to
address our common challenges." Japan, China, Russia, South Korea
and India are also part of the agreement which now gives the
go-ahead for practical work on the project to start. The ITER
project will reproduce the physical reaction -- fusion -- that
occurs in the sun and stars. Fusion has several attractions as a
large-scale energy source: its basic fuels are abundant and
available everywhere; no greenhouse gas emissions; no
transportation of radio-active materials; no possibility of
"meltdown" or "runaway reactions"; no long-lasting radioactive
waste to be passed on to future generations. Since the decision
last June to locate the project at Cadarache in southern France,
the 7 ITER Parties have been working together in a spirit of mutual
confidence and co-operation, and have made remarkable progress
towards the common objective of making ITER a reality as the next
step in the path to developing fusion as an attractive, long-term
option for supplying the energy needs of the world. The initialing
of the agreements brings to an end a long and complex negotiation
process. Now each partner will confirm the adoption of the
agreement according to their national laws and practice. [In the
EU, this means that the Council of Ministers will be asked to adopt
a decision endorsing the agreement. The EU is represented by the
EURATOM Community, within which Switzerland has all the same rights
and obligations as EU Member States] It is hoped that all parties
will have completed the process by the end of 2006, which, in
tandem with the completion of the process of gaining all necessary
construction permits at the site, will mean actual construction can
start in 2007. DATASOURCE: Delegation of the European Commission to
the U.S. CONTACT: Anthony Gooch, +1-202-862-9523, or Kasper
Zeuthen, +1-202-862-9530, both of European Union Web site:
http://www.eurunion.org/
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