The existing crop of nuclear power plants all rely on
fission, a somewhat messy process which yields some rather unpleasant radioactive waste products behind. So it's
heartening to see that an international consortium has agreed to try to build a
fusion reactor:
Science's quest to find a cheap and inexhaustible way to meet global energy needs took a major step forward on Tuesday when a 30-nation consortium chose France to host the world's first nuclear fusion reactor.
After months of wrangling, France defeated a bid from Japan and signed a deal to site the 10-billion-euroexperimental reactor in Cadarache, near Marseille.
The project will seek to turn seawater into fuel by mimicking the way the sun produces energy. It would be cleaner than current nuclear reactors, would not rely on enriched uranium fuel or produce plutonium.
It may be many, many years before this project yields any positive results, if it ever does. But given the twin problems of fossil fuel shortages and pollution that our current system faces, I think this is the kind of bold experiment we need to undertake.
And I do say "we" - the US, as it turns out, is actually a partner in this venture. I'm glad to see that our national leadership has not entirely turned our backs on the world, though it often seems that way.