ITER Agreement Signed

Off the wire from DOE:

Representing the United States, Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Under Secretary for Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), today joined counterparts from China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation to sign an agreement to build the international fusion energy project known as ITER.

“The energy that powers the stars is moving closer to becoming a new source of energy for the Earth through the technology represented by ITER,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. “The ITER Members represent over half of the world’s population. The U.S. is proud to be part of this partnership, and to join in the pursuit of nuclear fusion as a source of clean, safe, renewable and commercially deployable energy for the future.”

Fusion energy is an important component of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), given fusion’s potential to become an attractive long-range option for the U.S. clean energy portfolio. In FY 2006, DOE allocated $25 million to ITER and the President, as part of the AEI, has requested $60 million for the project in FY 2007.

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