Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: La scienza soffre per la politica

Questa e' proprio incredibile.
Un progetto potenzialmente rivoluzionario viene rimandato per... una
ripicca
statunitense verso la Francia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3336701.stm
Fusion project decision delayed 
A decision on where to site the world's first big nuclear fusion
reactor has been postponed, France has said.
Delegates meeting in Washington were divided over France or Japan for
the multi-billion dollar project.
The US has been against the French option because of France's
opposition to the invasion of Iraq.
Nuclear fusion holds out the promise of virtually limitless
pollution-free energy - but the reactor will take 10 years to build.
Pros and cons 
Member countries of the International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (Iter) project gathered in the US to try to make a final
decision on the location of the project.
"At the end of the meeting...it was agreed by all parties present that
no definite choice could be made at this stage," France's research
ministry said in a statement.
A French Government envoy at the meeting, Pierre Lellouche, said the
matter would be deferred until next year, probably mid-February, the
French news agency reports.
The Japanese site of Rokkasho-mura has the advantages of proximity to
a port, a ground of solid bedrock and a nearby US military base.
The French site at Cadarache offers an existing research facility and
a more moderate climate.
The experts were supposed to reach a consensus based on objective
criteria.
But BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse says the
decision is highly political, involving huge amounts of horse-trading
behind the scenes.
Delegates were hoping, he says, that one of the countries involved
would drop out and so avoid the need for a vote.
The European Union is backing France - but Canada, China, Russia,
South Korea, the United States and Tokyo itself are reported to be
favouring Japan.
The US, in particular, has raised objections to the French option,
citing its opposition to the Iraq invasion.
"We have the structure, scientific and technical environment to ensure
that this scheme can start up with competence, expertise and solid
safety guarantees," French Research Minister Claudie Haignere said.
"If our site is chosen, Japan will cover the costs that are needed,"
said Hidekazu Tanaka, a senior official of the Japanese Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ministry.
Self-sustaining 
Iter is the boldest nuclear initiative since the Manhattan Project -
the effort to build the first atom bomb, says BBC News Online's
science editor David Whitehouse.
It would also be the world's largest international co-operative
research and development project after the International Space
Station.
Scientists say it will be the first fusion device to produce thermal
energy at the level of an electricity-producing power station.
Its goal will be to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for 500
seconds or longer during each individual fusion experiment and, in
doing so, demonstrate essential technologies for a commercial reactor.
But they are all agreed that taming the power of the Sun will not be
easy.
The superhot gas in which the fusion takes place is notoriously
difficult to control.
The gas, termed a plasma, has to be kept hot and contained for fusion
to take place. So far, no one has achieved a prolonged self-sustaining
fusion event.
Advocates of fusion power point out that if they succeed, there is an
almost limitless supply of power available because the deuterium atoms
on which it would be based can be derived from seawater.

ripicca statunitense verso la Francia.
Tutto sulla base della affermazioni di uno scienziato :)
Come non credergli sulla parola :)
-Stefano