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EU 'declaration of war' over fusion
Japan said today it would continue with its bid to host a global nuclear fusion project and warned the European Union against going ahead without Tokyo. However, EU ministers agreed in Brussels to continue seeking Japan's backing to build the world's first thermonuclear reactor in France - but to go ahead without Tokyo if there was no deal by the end of the year. "It is regrettable that they are talking about taking unilateral action," Satoru Ohtake, director for fusion energy at Science and Technology Ministry, told Reuters. "There is no change in Japan's policy to seek to host the project." Nuclear fusion has been touted as a long-term solution to the world's energy problems, ,but 50 years of research have so far failed to produce a commercially viable fusion reactor. The EU would prefer an agreement with all six parties in the project: itself, Japan, China, Russia, the United States, and South Korea. But if no deal was reached, the EU would press ahead and build the 10bn euro reactor in Cadarache, France, with as many partners as possible. "The two sides have different ideas, and therefore we should take time to have good discussions," Ohtake said. "The fact that they are setting a deadline for their rival to make a concession is something like a declaration of war..." "EU Declares War On Japan". Now *that's* a headline. Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-11-27 |
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