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Decision Delayed on Site of Nuclear Fusion Plant
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Officials of several major countries meeting in Washington to consider where to locate a massive nuclear fusion reactor, postponed their decision after failing to agree on a site, representatives said on Saturday.
Members of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project met on Friday and Saturday to choose between a site in France and one in Japan to host the project, worth $12 billion.
They couldn't reach an agreement, French officials said. "At the end of the meeting... it was agreed by all parties present that no definitive choice could be made at this stage," France's Research Ministry said in a statement issued in Paris.
The ITER project is to be a joint venture between the United States, China, Russia, South Korea (news - web sites), the European Union (news - web sites) and Japan and is valued at billions of dollars to build and operate.
The goal is to create a sustained nuclear fusion reaction that potentially will provide a safe and efficient source of pollution-free energy.
The U.S. Energy Department, which hosted the ITER meeting, had said on Friday it expected a decision on the winning site to be announced at the conclusion of the gathering.
It was unclear when the ITER might meet again to vote on the site, but a French official, Stephane Salord, said a decision would have to be taken by February and said that voting rules could be changed to prevent another stalemate.
The European Union supports a site at Cadarache in southern France while the small village of Rokkasho in Japan, home to about 12,000 people, was the prime contender.
Japanese officials said their site offered access to a port and ample supplies of sea and fresh water, which they felt offered an advantage over the French site.
Fabio Fabbi, spokesman for European Union Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin, said the bloc would continue to campaign for its site in Cadarache, near the Mediterranean port Marseille.
"We regret the fact that the international partners were unable to reach agreement in a first shot, because although the Japanese site is of high quality, we think Cadarache is better and deserves to be the location," Fabbi said.
European sources close to the talks, held behind closed doors near Washington, said the United States and South Korea favored locating the plant in Japan. Russia and China were said to back the French site at Cadarache.
As well as prestige, big economic stakes are at play. Construction of the reactor alone is expected to require a decade and to provide employment for about 2,000 workers.
The site selection has potential political significance as well, given the sensitivity of diplomatic ties between Washington and Paris over France's opposition to the Iraq (news - web sites) war.
In nuclear fusion, atoms are brought together as opposed to nuclear fission in which energy is released by splitting the atom, the process used in nuclear plants and to make weapons.
--Ok, I haven't kept up much on Nuclear Fusion reactors.
1). Whose design is it (Tokamak?).
2). What else would the site need besides water.
3). I thought fusion did produce pollution, but in smaller quantities than fission. Obviously helium, but I'm sure there are some really high energy particles that aren't consumed.
4). Will it go Kaboom like the Japanese reactor supposedly did in the 90's?
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