(May 30, 1997) Faced by budget cuts, Japan is considering to withdraw its offer to build the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Japan. This leaves Italy as the likely candidate for the US$6.7-billion project. Other cost estimates are US$10 billion for construction and US$10 billion for the first years of research.
(473.4690) WISE-Amsterdam Japan will not leave the ITER project, but will freeze its active participation in the nuclear fusion research program. The cutbacks will reduce the Japanese science and technology budgets by US$136 million over the 1996-2000 period. The freeze of Japan's ITER activities will also affect the Japan Energy Atomic Research Institute (JAERI), the core of the Japanese nuclear fusion research. The enthusiasm of several cities to host the ITER facility has been fading recently amid the general resistance to nuclear power after the recent accidents.
The ITER project is promoted jointly by the European Union, the United States, Russia and Japan. Together they spend more than US$1 billion a year on fusion research. The host country has to pay 50%-70% of the construction costs of ITER. Therefore Germany, France and the US decided not to build the ITER in their country. The US cut its ITER budget in 1995.
The EU wants the ITER to be built in Europe and wants to increase its nuclear fusion budget by 50%. The EU fusion research budget for 1994 to 1998 is US$1.07 billion. Design work on the new ITER started in 1992 and will be finished in 1998. Even the US Department Of Energy expects that commercial fusion reactors will not be on line before 2040 at the earliest. US$30 billion would be necessary before we see the first KWh of fusion power, according to the US Cato Institute.
Happily, the support for nuclear fusion has been dwindling worldwide. The money can be spend better. The EU seems to be the last proponent. It is to be seen if the Italians really wants to build the ITER in their country.
Source:
- Nucleonics Week, 8 May 1997
- Power in Europe, 31 January 1997
- WISE NC 446.4425, 12 February 1996
- Nuclear Awareness News, Winter '96/'97
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