ENDLESS energy with next to no radioactive waste? Fusion power will always
sound too good to be true. And yet after two years of gloom, the sun is shining
on the idea. In 1999, the US pulled out of the ambitious international project
known as ITER—designed to generate usable energy by squeezing atomic
nuclei together—claiming it had too many technical problems and cost too
much. But last month the President’s science adviser said the US should think
again. Why the change of heart? One reason is a spate of promising findings from
other fusion projects
(see “Here comes the sun”).
More significantly, ITER’s costs have been
more than halved. The present participants—Russia, Europe, Japan and,
possibly, Canada—would have to find $4.8 billion over eight years
to build the reactor. That’s about $150 million a year each—loose
change for most of the partners.
The chance that ITER will actually work remains remote, but at this price it
has got to be worth taking a punt. Besides, unlike the $30 billion space
station, ITER has a clear purpose and end point. If it doesn’t generate enough
electricity, we can simply pull the plug. There is, of course, another reason
why the US is again making eyes at ITER. Did anyone really believe George Bush
would allow his allies a stab at unlocking such a fantastic power source without
the US?