Brussels, 09/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - The US is continuing with their lobbying in support of Rokkasho-mura in Japan to become the site for the experimental ITER reactor. "According to AFP, US Secretary for Energy, Spencer Abraham, declared on Friday in Tokyo that, "I am proud to affirm today that the USA strongly supports the construction of ITER here in Japan" (EUROPE 23 December p 8 on the subject of Reston last December). Mr Abraham told the Japanese that from a technical point of view they had a superior site and that Rokkasho was perfectly well located for accommodating the necessary large scale materials for the ITER project. The European Commission is obviously supporting the candidacy of Cadarache in France. Fabio Fabbi, spokesperson for Philippe Busquin, Commissioner for Research, declared on Friday that from a scientific and technical point of view, strong points existed on both sides but if other criteria were taken into account, such as accommodation capacity, Cadarache would appear to offer more advantages than Rosskasho-mura.
Energy Ministers for research and energy form the six ITEE partner countries (as well as the USA, EU and Japan, these include Russia, China and South Korea) are expected to decide by unanimity on which of the two sites will accommodate the ITER project.