December 20, 2006—The US Department of Energy (DOE), recently joined counterparts from China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation to sign an agreement to build the international fusion energy project known as ITER.
“The energy that powers the stars is moving closer to becoming a new source of energy for the Earth through the technology represented by ITER,” US Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. “The ITER Members represent over half of the world’s population. The US is proud to be part of this partnership, and to join in the pursuit of nuclear fusion as a source of clean, safe, renewable and commercially deployable energy for the future.”
ITER will be constructed at Cadarache, France and is expected to be completed in 2015. The site is adjacent to the main research center of the French Atomic Energy Commission. The EU, as the host, will provide 45.46 percent of the construction phase funding. The US, as a non-host partner, will participate in the construction phase at the level of 9.09 percent.
Fusion energy, created when light atomic nuclei are fused together at temperatures greater than those of the interior of stars and far above the melting point of any solid container, could provide significant amounts of electricity and also generate hydrogen that could power fuel cell vehicles of the future. For more information, see the DOE Web site.
