On June 12, we visited the astounding ITER nuclear fusion project in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France. In a joint project of 33 countries with seeds going back to 1985 and commenced in 2007, the experiment is building a “tokamak” device to suspend plasma in a magnetic field and fuse atoms in a process similar to the sun. The goal is to create ten times the amount of energy consumed in a process that has relatively little waste with a short half-life of 12 years, and much less risk of meltdown. Fusion has the massive potential to provide very clean energy. We had a great tour around the worksite and the honour of Director-General Pietro Barabaschi meeting us. In discussions we found much common ground: an international team trying to do something that has never been done before with many natural and logistical challenges along the way. We felt at home, and we’re cheering for the success of the project and the ambitious and passionate people we met there.
