Brussels, 05/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commissioner responsible for research, Philippe Busquin, welcomed the announcement made by President Bush and by the American Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham according to which the United States will participate in negotiations in view of the construction and operation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an international research and development project in the field of nuclear fusion which will see the participation of, other than the EU, Japan, Russia and Canada. The United States took part in the initial phases of the project and withdrew in order to re-evaluate in 1999. Philippe Busquin was 'most pleased by the decision of the American government to get back on board.' 'The United States has acknowledged expertise in fusion sciences, adding to great industrial and technological capacity,' he stated, underlining that 'pooled with the expertise and resources of Europe and of other international partners, US participation will make a significant contribution to the success of ITER, while further sharing costs.'
A total amount of EUR 750 million, representing the lion's share of the budget for the Euratom framework programme 2003-2006 (EUR 1.25 billion), should be allocated to research into nuclear fusion. This programme should create the conditions necessary to begin the construction of the reactor in the coming years.
The projected total cost of the ITER project (construction and running costs) is of around EUR 10 billion over 30 years. Let us recall that the Peoples Republic of China recently made a request to join the negotiations on the construction of ITER.