RESTON, Va. — International sponsors of a project to generate energy by reproducing the sun’s power source failed Saturday to agree on whether to build the world’s first large-scale nuclear fusion reactor in France or Japan.
Representatives from the European Union, the United States, Russia, South Korea, China and Japan said in a statement after meeting for more than three hours that they need additional time to pick a site.
"We have two excellent sites … so excellent in fact, that we need further evaluation before making our decisions based on consensus," according to the statement.
The sponsors also announced "a rapid exploration of the advantages of a broader project approach to fusion power." When asked to elaborate, the deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the development of fusion power means more than building the reactor and involves scientific and technical activities.
Taking those factors into consideration, Werner Burkart said, might be "helpful in finding consensus" on siting the reactor.
France and Japan are the finalists in a bidding war for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, which is expected to cost $12 billion over 35 years. The stakes are high because the project means jobs, government subsidies and prestige.
The project "remains an absolute priority for Europe. We are utterly convinced that our human, financial and technological advantages should allow us to see through this project," said France’s minister of research and new technologies, Claudie Haignere.
The project, first proposed more than a decade ago, is designed to study the potential of fusion power as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, such as coal and oil. Fossil fuels are expected to run short in about 50 years.
Fusion, which powers the sun and stars, involves colliding tiny atoms at extremely high temperatures and pressure inside a reactor. When the atoms fuse into a plasma, they release energy that can be harnessed to generate electricity.
Fusion power produces no greenhouse gas emissions and only low levels of radioactive waste. The reactor would run on an isotope of hydrogen, an abundant source of fuel that can be extracted from water.
Fusion reactors do not consume uranium or plutonium — the fuel of conventional, fission reactors — and do not use an atomic chain reaction. As a result, there is little risk of a radioactive meltdown.
Copyright ©2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
