ITER 'at the heart' of France's energy strategy: De Villepin

London (Platts)--13Jun2006

ITER is "at the heart" of France's energy strategy, Prime Minister Dominique
de Villepin said on a visit June 9 to Cadarache, where the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is to be built in the context of a
six-party cooperation.

De Villepin said his government has three priorities in energy policy: "(low)
cost, supply security, and (protection of the) environment." The reactor,
which is aimed to demonstrate net energy production from inertial confinement
fusion, is expected to cost some 10 billion euros in euros of 2002 (US$12.6
billion) to build and operate over 30 years, beginning in 2015. De Villepin
said France would "continue to conduct an ambitious nuclear policy," calling
ITER "an essential element of this strategy." Until the advent of successful
fusion, however, Villepin said, France will develop fourth-generation fission
reactors, with a decision on the first such reactor to be made by the
government's Atomic Energy Committee this fall.

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