LETTER FROM CADERACHE: JULY 2013

摘要

The 180-hectare site for the ITER project, cut out from the forests of the Luberon valley, lies baking in the southern French sun. The first 25-ton load of conductor for construction of magnets for the project arrived at Saint-Paul-les-Durances in June after a 10,000 nautical mile journey by truck and ship from Shanghai. The superconducting magnet coils are just one element of the project to build a device that will test the feasibility of generating power from nuclear fusion on a large scale. This international energy project is supported and funded by one of the largest scientific cooperative ventures ever assembled; China, Europe, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States all contribute both financially and in hardware to a project estimated to cost about $13 billion once construction is complete. The project has grown out of a worldwide scientific program which has demonstrated that nuclear fusion of hydrogen isotopes can produce energy in a controllable way.