Nuclear fusion finance plan rejected by EU Parliament (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

A plan to rescue European financing of the Iter nuclear fusion reactor project has been rejected at the final hurdle.

Member states had wanted to reallocate 1.4bn euros from the existing Brussels budget to cover a shortfall in building costs in 2012-13.

But the European Parliament has refused to approve the plan.

Member states will now have to table a new proposal for early next year but access to the EU's 2010 budget is now closed.
***
The multi-billion-euro facility, which is already under construction in France, will attempt to harvest energy by exploiting the same nuclear processes that power the Sun.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12007965

[Ratty]

1. ITER always troubled me

It seems like too big too soon. No fusion reactor has ever output more energy than was put into it. It seems to me they should have demonstrated it was even possible with a tokamak design before committing 15 billion euros to build a gigantic version.

[txlibdem]

2. Just great. And fusion remains "just 50 years away"

Perhaps it'll magically get funded when the last drop of oil is extracted from the ground?!?