August 25, 2007 (LPAC)--On August 24, China's chief coordinator for its participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Huo Yuping, presented before 150 legislators of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the plan for China's contribution to the project. Huo, a Zhengzhou University professor, and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said ITER is part of China's systematic plan for developing fusion technology, and "will lay a solid basis for our own efforts to build bigger experimental reactors at home,'' according to China's People's Daily today. China has the world's only operating superconducting fusion experiment.

In November 2006, China signed the Agreement to establish the international organization that will oversee ITER, which is being built in France. China's share of the project is 9.1%, which will consist of equipment and supplies for the project, and the dispatch of scientists to the site. Next week, the Standing Committee is expected to vote on the agreement. Huo was supported by Minister of Science and Technology, Wan Gang, who said ITER "bears vital significance in promoting Chinese scientists' capability in fusion scientific research and technological development.''

(Chinese space scientists often describe the mapping, and then mining, of helium-3 on the Moon as a goal of their lunar exploration program. Helium-3 would serve as an advanced fuel for fusion reactors.)