Brussels, 24/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The 7 Parties engaged in the project (EU, USA, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and India) met in Brussels on 24 May 2006 to confirm the agreements negotiated over the past year, following the decision to select the site for the construction and operation of ITER in Europe at Cadarache in southern France. The Commission explained in a press release that implicitly responds to criticism from environmental organisations that have criticised the project for swallowing up billion of Euros which could have been used for developing renewable energies that the ITER project is an international collaborative research project on an unprecedented scale, which 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.
“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 Potoènik, who hosted the meeting. “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.”
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.