EU asks Korean support in locating fusion project

The European Union wants Korea’s support in its bid to locate the ITER, or international thermonuclear experimental reactor, in France, says Philippe Busquin, Commissioner for Research at the European Commission.
ITER is one of the biggest projects in the international development of fusion energy. Korea, China, Japan, the European Union, Russia, and the United States have joined the project and will collectively invest $5 billion in the project by 2015. France and Japan are competing as candidates for the location of the ITER. Korea supports Japan.
In an interview on Monday, Mr. Busquin said, “The EU has analyzed the pros and cons of having the ITER in Europe from nine standpoints, including earthquakes, transportation, science technology and the environment.”
He added: “If Korea compared France and Japan objectively, it would find that France offers a better location than Japan.”
Mr. Busquin said he also visited Seoul to talk about Korean-EU cooperation in science and technology with Oh Myung, minister for science and technology.
“I saw the high potential of Korea’s science and technology. But this potential is unknown to many European countries. Korea should speak out about their potential and ability to Europe,” he said.
He suggested more Korean scientists join research programs in the EU and communicate and exchange information with European counterparts.
Mr. Busquin said there is fertile ground for Korean-EU cooperation in many fields, including energy, information technology, food security and biotechnology.
He expressed admiration for the Korean scientific team led by professor Hwang Woo-suk, who succeeded in cloning stem cells from human embryos.
“European countries, including the U.K., Belgium and the Netherlands, have started studying the cloning of stem cells, and they admire Mr. Hwang for his achievement,” he said.

by Park Sung-ha