The final stage of the international nuclear fusion project, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (iter), estimated to cost us $12 billion over the next 10 years, has been deferred. Officials from several countries meeting in Washington were unable to decide upon a location for the final stage of the project -- a reactor to ensure the first ever sustained fusion reactions to provide nuclear energy commercially.
France or Japan were to house the project. But the us opposed the French bid, because France opposed the us-led invasion of Iraq. The European Union (eu), Russia and China backed France but South Korea and the us put their weight behind Japan. The Japanese site of Rokkasho-mura is touted as advantageous because of its proximity to a port and a nearby us military base; the French site at Cadarache offers an existing research facility and a more moderate climate. The resultant political logjam led the seven-member representatives to defer the decision to mid-February, 2004.
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