January 8, 2008 (LPAC)--China will contribute $1.4 billion to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) fusion energy development project, almost 10% of the project's overall cost, China Daily reported today. The funding was announced at the Oriental Science and Technology Forum in Shanghai on Jan. 6 by Luo Delong, deputy director of the ITER China Office, who said that the "goal of the project is to find a shortcut to solve our energy shortage."

The Chinese funds will compensate for the decision by the U.S. Congress in December to cut the $149 million contribution which the U.S. had promised to ITER for 2008, even while allowing $93 million for three smaller U.S. fusion projects. Ironically, the international ITER project was initiated by the United States and then-Soviet Union in the mid-1980s; now the U.S. and Russia have been joined by the EU, China, India, and South Korea. These nations signed a 35-year Agreement in November 2006, to build an experimental fusion reactor in Cadarache, France, with the EU contributing 50% of the approximately $15 billion construction costs and the other nations equally dividing the remainder.

All the nations are also carrying out independent fusion research. China was the the first country to build a superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device in September. However, China does not have enough trained scientists and technicians to carry the work forward on the scale necessary for success, and has just reached an agreement with Japan for enhanced cooperation in research and training of scientists, in addition to contributing to the ITER. About half of China's contribution will be spent during the 10-year construction phase for the ITER. Chinese researchers will be in charge of building components such as heating, diagnostic and remote maintenance equipment, as well as transporting it to France.