Federation Council ratifies ITER agreement

06.07.2007 // RIA Novosti

Federation Council of Russia has ratified Agreement on Establishment of ITER Organization

While presenting the Agreement, Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Mikhail Margelov said that the ITER Organization is supposed to ensure cooperation among the parties to the project of ITER – International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

“This project will be implemented in France. Russia’s share therein is 10% — mostly through equipment supplies. Just like the other parties to the project, Russia will have full access to its database,” Margelov said.

The senators have also ratified the agreement on the privileges and immunities of the ITER organization, which provides a legislative basis for the project.

As was reported earlier, the ITER agreements were signed in Paris in Nov 2006 following talks among the EU, India, China, South Korea, Russia, the US and Japan.

ITER will be built in Cadarache (Southern France). The construction will last for 10 years. The reactor will serve for 20 years. The estimated cost of the project is $10bln, with the EU to pay 40% and the rest — 60% (10% each).

Unlike modern reactors, which are based on nuclear decay, ITER is based on thermonuclear fusion. In fact, it is an attempt to repeat – in laboratories and, later, in production — a process taking place on the Sun: nuclear fusion of hydrogen isotopes – deuterium and tritium – which produces neutral helium and a big amount of energy: 1 gram of deuterium-tritium can produce as much energy as 8 tons of oil.

The secretary of the Public Chamber of Russia, President of the Kurchatov Institute Yevgeny Velikhov said earlier that ITER poses no threat to the environment and humankind and contains no elements allowing one to make a nuclear bomb.