$10bn ITER World project to copy Sun's energy to expensive ?

Post date: Jun 14, 2010 7:55:56 AM

Costly nuclear fusion demo worries cash-strapped EU

Fusion is like trying to put the Sun in a box - but we don't know how to make the box

ITER France, nuclear fusion demo

"It is irresponsible to invest huge amounts in a dead-end technology without creating jobs in this period of financial crisis," said Green group politician Claude Turmes.

The overall EU share of construction costs has more than doubled from 2.7 billion euros in 2001 to 7.2 billion now.

"Instead of a huge investment with exploding costs and without any added value, we Greens think we should use techniques that are available and reliable now like renewables and energy efficiency," Turmes said.

ITER's international council, which also includes Japan, India, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States, will meet on June 16 to discuss the scope, schedule and costs of the project. But the meeting is unlikely to reach concrete decisions until the EU has solved its financing issues.

Building a homemade

nuclear fusion reactor

in NYC

Mark Suppes is part of a growing community

of amateur "fusioneers"

Many might be alarmed to learn of a homemade nuclear reactor being built next door. But what if this form of extreme DIY could help solve the world's energy crisis?By day, Mark Suppes is a web developer for fashion giant Gucci. By night, he cycles to a New York warehouse and tinkers with his own nuclear fusion reactor.

The warehouse is a non-descript building on a tree-lined Brooklyn street, across the road from blocks of apartments, with a grocery store on one corner. But in reality, it is a lab.

source: news.bbc.co.uk