Budgetmakers in the U.S. Senate have moved to halt U.S. participation in ITER, the huge international fusion experiment now under construction in Cadarache, France, that aims to demonstrate that nuclear fusion could be a viable source of energy. Although the details are not available, Senate sources confirm a report by Physics Today that the Senate’s version of the budget for the Department of Energy (DOE) for fiscal year 2015, which begins 1 October, would provide just $75 million for the United States’ part of the project. That would be half of what the White House had requested and just enough to wind down U.S. involvement in ITER.
But the fate of the U.S. ITER effort is hardly sealed. Appropriators in the House of Representatives released their version of the proposed DOE budget on 18 June and not only supported continued U.S. participation in ITER, but also proposed giving the project $225 million next year. The House total is $75 million more than what the White House had requested. Moreover, the Senate bill that would fund DOE—the so-called energy and water bill—hangs in limbo, thanks to the political battle over the Obama administration’s plan to use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to set new limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, especially those that burn coal.
The Senate move should come as no surprise, as key members have been critical of ITER’s massive cost overruns and mounting delays. When the United States signed on in 2006 to build 9% of ITER’s parts and subsystems, the U.S. effort was expected to cost $1.1 billion and ITER was expected to start its key energy-producing runs in 2013. In April, DOE officials estimated that the cost of the U.S. share of the construction had risen to $3.9 billion and that those key runs would not start until 2033. And last month, the Government Accountability Office found that, thanks to the lack of a credible schedule for the project as a whole, even those estimates are not reliable. Given the situation, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D–CA), the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, warned at a 9 April subcommittee hearing that the U.S. program could be in jeopardy. “This may be an opportunity to experience the power of the purse,” she said.
As the subcommittee followed through on that threat, even a senator from a state directly involved in the U.S. ITER project spoke in favor of ending it. U.S. ITER has its headquarters at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Nevertheless, at a 17 June hearing on the budget bill covering DOE, Senator Lamar Alexander (R–TN), the ranking member on the Energy and Water Subcommittee, said that ITER hasn’t shown the progress it should. “We’ve withdrawn funding for the program,” he said, and “that saves taxpayers $75 million this year, and at least $3.9 billion, and potentially $6.5 billion, over the life of the project.”
To kill ITER, Senate appropriators will have to persuade the White House and their counterparts in the House to go along. That may be a tough sell, as the report that accompanies the House version of the energy and water bill says that ITER “remains the most practical U.S. investment in the fusion energy sciences.” However, the House bill warns that lawmakers will have to reconsider that position if the international ITER organization does not implement a raft of management reforms specified last year by an external review panel.
Before negotiations between the Senate and House can begin, Senate appropriators must first get their version of the energy and water bill out of committee. The bill has been stalled by political wrangling over a proposed amendment by Senator Mitch McConnell (R–KY) which would eliminate funding for enforcing new EPA climate regulations unless the secretary of energy certified that they would not cost jobs or raise the price of electricity. Avoiding a politically tricky vote on the amendment, Democratic senators scotched a 19 June hearing and vote on the bill by the full Appropriations Committee.
Meld on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 10:09 am
Lets hope the rest of the countries pull out of this pipe dream and spend the money on keeping essential services open for as long as possible.
Plantagenet on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 10:15 am
This is another anti-science move by Obama and the D’s. First they slashed NASA and ended The shuttle program. Now they are after the physicists and various particle physics programs.
Kevin Cobley on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 10:24 am
The amounts of money that big physics manage to conjure up for bizarre fantasies like the mega collider and this project puts them in the same league as the fossil fuelers. I’m no physicist but I can already tell you the results of this mega expensive experiment “It will be unsuccessful in demonstrating a working net energy producing fusion reactor but will show what colossal progress has been made in construction of these devices and will beg for another sack of cash to build the next model”.
If all the money that has been pumped into “Star Trek” engineering had been put into Solar, Wind and Geothermal we would already be in a much better place. Electricity too cheap to meter is still the dream for the hucksters pumping these schemes.
Plantagenet on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 11:14 am
Somehow Obama and the Ds can find plenty of money to open another shelter and pay for lawyers for illegal immigrant children flooding the US, but they want to slash funding for US science initiatives.
Its sad, really, how many liberals don’t support scientific research.
louis wu on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 12:02 pm
“Its sad, really, how many liberals don’t support scientific research.”
As opposed to all of the conservatives that do.
Plantagenet on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 12:31 pm
Did you read the article?
The Ds in the Senate want to cut science funding while the Rs in the House support continuing science funding.
louis wu on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 1:38 pm
As the subcommittee followed through on that threat, even a senator from a state directly involved in the U.S. ITER project spoke in favor of ending it. U.S. ITER has its headquarters at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Nevertheless, at a 17 June hearing on the budget bill covering DOE, Senator Lamar Alexander (R–TN), the ranking member on the Energy and Water Subcommittee, said that ITER hasn’t shown the progress it should. “We’ve withdrawn funding for the program,” he said, and “that saves taxpayers $75 million this year, and at least $3.9 billion, and potentially $6.5 billion, over the life of the project.”
I did read it. He’s not a democrat. Should the US just keep pumping unlimited funds into this? Of course if Obama had been for it then you would have been critical for exactly that reason.
chilyb on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 2:05 pm
“When the United States signed on in 2006 to build 9% of ITER’s parts and subsystems, the U.S. effort was expected to cost $1.1 billion and ITER was expected to start its key energy-producing runs in 2013. In April, DOE officials estimated that the cost of the U.S. share of the construction had risen to $3.9 billion and that those key runs would not start until 2033.”
2033…seriously?
Northwest Resident on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 2:12 pm
louis wu — Thanks for that pointed clarification. As you may have noticed many times before on this forum, Plantagenet and accurate facts are like two opposing poles of a powerful magnet — rarely do the come together. Plant is an unrestrained emitter of false accusations, ill-placed blame and loony political theories. He used to make me mad, now I’m just amused. But I do enjoy seeing another poster take Plant to the woodshed and give him a good working over. Thanks!
MSN Fanboy on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 3:05 pm
Fusion power is the only thing viable left to keep BAU going indefinitly…
You would think they would just print the money and give it them in a last ditch attempt to keep infinite growth going.
sigh
Well, that panglossian future is certainly not going to happen.
guess a patchwork of renewables is the next best option we can hope for now..
pity renewables cant reproduce
Meld on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 4:52 pm
@plant – you’re blinded by all this left right bullshit. It’s the state, and every so often it changes it’s face and clothes, but it remains the state. Inefficient, bloated, and with monopolies on theft and violence.
Makati1 on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 10:22 pm
The US has begun it’s contraction from world affairs slowly. Partly because it is bankrupt and it appears that outside loans from China and Russia are history.
The US doesn’t push science or real history education or even math beyond grade school. WE need Russia to put our satellites in orbit or to get someone to the space station. We will never have a shuttle system of our own again or total independence in space.
The rest of the world is waking up to the lies coming from the DC Mafia, and the strangle hold it wants to get on them. Blow-back has begun and will increase in intensity until the US is a minor player in world affairs, or it pushes the nuclear button as the last resort of a cornered rat. At least that is what I see from my place here.
Norm on Thu, 3rd Jul 2014 11:49 pm
It is kind of an expensive way to boil water. Plantagenet has gotten into some legalized pot. Said Republicans are Pro Science. Ya maybe the science of a bomb or a gun barrel, LOL.
Arthur on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 12:10 am
Americans applying the red pencil. Will happen a lot more in the near future. Good news though. No more billions invested in that fusion fata morgana that always will recede back in the future… fifty years from now, sure thing.
Fusion had it’s chance for fifty years and blew it. Solar, wind and hydro storage work now. Roll up the sleeves and build while there is still some fossil fuel left.
Bob Owens on Fri, 4th Jul 2014 10:54 am
In the future we will need to try thousands of different experiments with many different types of technology. Only a few will be winners. The key to success will be to not have huge projects that don’t allow funding of smaller projects and to know when a technology test is not going to be economically feasible and pull the plug. On all counts ITER has failed and should have been abandoned 50 years ago. If ITER’s funding had been used for solar, every home in the USA could have been outfitted with a solar water heater for free. True solar power. Instead we are bogged down in this quicksand.
louis wu on Sat, 5th Jul 2014 10:03 am
The only long term viable option is scale back, power down and live a localised lifestyle. Any long distance travel will have to go back to being a luxury. Anything else just isn’t going to work.