For Immediate Release
January 30, 2003
Fact Sheet: ITER
Promoting Energy Independence Through Cooperative Research to Develop Fusion Energy
Today's Presidential Action
President Bush announced today that the United States will join an
ambitious international research project to harness the promise of
fusion energy, the same form of energy that powers the sun. America
will join negotiations with Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and China to
create the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER.
This will be the largest and most technologically sophisticated fusion
experiment in the world. If successful, ITER will be a major step
forward in the effort to produce clean, safe, renewable,
commercially-available fusion-generated energy by the middle of this
century. Commercialization of fusion energy would dramatically reduce
America's dependence on imported oil and provide an abundant source of
clean energy.
A Clean, Safe, Renewable Energy Source for the Future
Fusion energy could provide significant amounts of electricity and
also generate hydrogen needed to power fuel cell vehicles of the
future.
- Fusion is clean: It produces negligible atmospheric emissions and
zero greenhouse gas emissions.
- Fusion is safe: Reactors cannot "melt down," and do not generate
the high-level, long-lasting radioactive waste associated with nuclear
power.
- Fusion is renewable: Commercial fusion reactors would use
lithium and deuterium, both readily available natural resources found
in sea water.
The Promise of Fusion Energy
Fusion energy is created when two atomic nuclei are "fused"
together at temperatures greater than the interior of stars and far
above the melting point of any solid container. Once initiated, a
fusion reaction converts small amounts of matter to enormous amounts of
energy. ITER will create and sustain this reaction on a scale necessary
to develop fusion-based power plants.
America has supported research to harness fusion for nearly half a
century; ITER will accelerate efforts to develop commercially viable
means of generating fusion energy. ITER seeks to generate
self-sustained, magnetically-confined fusion reactions ("burning
plasma") for significant periods of time. This step is critical to the
development of fusion as a viable energy source. Recent scientific
developments have advanced knowledge of this field to the point that
scientists now believe ITER can demonstrate the feasibility of this
technology as part of an ongoing effort to develop a practical
energy-generating device. If successful, ITER would create the first
fusion device capable of producing thermal energy comparable to the
output of a power plant, making commercially viable fusion power
available as soon as 2050.
The Commitment of the United States
ITER is a $5 billion international fusion energy research project.
The level of America's financial commitment will be determined during
negotiations with our international partners: the European Union,
Canada, Japan, Russia, and China. (ITER negotiators are currently
evaluating South Korea's request to participate.) The National Academy
of Sciences recently endorsed America's participation in this important
international research program.
For more information on the President's initiatives, please visit
www.whitehouse.gov
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