United States and International Partners Initial ITER (Fusion Reactor) Agre

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - Representing the United States, Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy?s (DOE) Office of Science, joined counterparts from China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation today to initial an agreement to construct ITER, an international fusion energy project. Fusion energy is an important component of President Bush?s Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), given fusion?s potential to become an attractive long-range option for the U.S. clean energy portfolio. In FY 2006, DOE allocated $25 million to ITER and the President, as part of the AEI, has requested $60 million for the project in FY 2007.