EU to build nuclear project in France without Japan if no deal reached
16/11/2004
The European Union will build a revolutionary nuclear fusion project in southern France without Japan if an agreement with Tokyo is not reached "as soon as possible", the EU's executive arm recommended Tuesday.
The European Commission announced the move following talks last week which failed to resolve the standoff between Japan and France over the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
"The Commission will try to reach a positive conclusion with all the parties as soon as possible," the executive said in a statement.
"If, nevertheless, the parties do not reach the hoped-for consensus, the EU would launch the construction of ITER within the largest possible framework," it added.
The EU commissioner responsible for research, Louis Michel, said he hoped for an agreement by the end of the year.
"I hope that we will succeed by the end of the year," he told a news conference during the European Parliament's session in this French northeastern city.
"If we need several days or several weeks more to be sure of having the six partners on board I think that it is worth it," he said.
However, he cautioned against setting artificial deadlines.
"The stakes are so high that we should not put our backs to the wall with deadlines," he said.
Diplomats say talks in Vienna last week made some progress but failed to break the essential deadlock over the two candidate sites for ITER -- Cadarache in southern France and Rokkasho-mura in northern Japan.
Web link: ITER - International Fusion Energy Organisation ITER - International Fusion Energy Organisation
Web link: European fusion research - further information European fusion research - further information
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