Fusion Research: What About the U.S.?

The site for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) has finally been chosen: southern France. Both the European Union and Japan were bidding to host ITER, and the selection of one of them opens the way to the scientific demonstration of controlled fusion energy production and removes perhaps the last major impediment to a project under consideration for nearly 20 years.

Fusion is the kind of grand technological challenge that calls for international cooperation. But the length of time its development will require can breed skepticism and discourage policymakers. In the mid-1990s, cuts in the United States’ fusion research budget led it to pull out from the ITER consortium. Thankfully, it rejoined in 2003, but in a more junior role, reflecting its relatively modest funding of fusion projects: $290 million in 2006, less than half Europe’s commitment.

Technology Review