De Donnea to encourage US participation in ITER fusion project
The head of the EU Research Council and Minister President of the Brussels-Capital region, François-Xavier de Donnea, has said he will take steps to encourage the USA to join the ITER (international thermonuclear experimental reactor) nuclear fusion project. Speaking at a press briefing on the upcoming Research Council in Brussels on 10 December, Mr de Donnea said that he will write to US Secretary of energy Spencer Abraham after the Council to encourage the USA to join the ITER fusion project. He said he believes that President Vladimir Putin of Russia, whose country is already 'on board' for the project, has also made moves to persuade the Americans to join the initiative. Japan and Canada have also made moves to host the reactor. Mr de Donnea said that the Belgian Presidency had proposed a budget of 740 million euro for fusion under the Euratom programme, while the European Parliament advocated 800 million euro and the Commission 700 million euro. Asked whether he thought the amount of money proposed by the Presidency was too small, Mr de Donnea said: 'I did everything I could to increase the budget,' adding that he believed in the nuclear fusion project and that 'more money would without doubt be a good idea.' Fusion research would be best managed under the form of a network of excellence, with the USA also taking part, according to Mr De Donnea, who added that he hopes the experiment will be based in Europe. He also clarified the Member State reaction to France's announcement at the last Research Council in Luxembourg on 30 October that they intended to bid to host the ITER fusion reactor site in Cadarache. While the Member States 'took note' of France's intention to bid, the reaction from the delegates was neither positive nor negative. Mr de Donnea said he expects discussion at the Research Council to centre around the implementation of old and new instruments, the distribution of the budget among the different subsections of FP6 and the Euratom budget. He added that despite divergences of opinion between the Parliament and the Council on the next Framework programme, he hopes a common position will be reached on the Sixth Framework programme draft as this would be one of the most important achievements of the Belgian Presidency of the EU.