India to join fusion energy bloc in Nov

India alongwith the EU, China and four other countries will sign next month an agreement on the joint implementation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project aimed at tapping fusion energy, a senior official said today.

The agreement between India, the US, the European Union, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan marked the formal launch of the multi-million dollar project, Director General Nominee with the ITER International Fusion Energy Research Project, Kaname Ikeda said.

The project aims to recreate the conditions of the sun under which a nuclear fusion reaction can take place and has been nicknamed "artificial sun" by scientists.

The formal implementation of the project offers people an opportunity to realize their dream of bringing nuclear fusion energy under control, Werner Burkart, deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said.

The construction of the reactor will take nearly 10 years and cost euro 10 billion. It will be located in France, Ikeda was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency controlled nuclear fusion is seen as an efficient way for people to generate infinite, clean energy to offset the dearth of fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

India was accepted as a full partner in the ITER project in December last year. The financial cost of India's participation in ITER will be around Rs 200 crore annually.

India had expressed interest in participating in the ITER project as a full partner as it has an advanced scientific and technological base. It has been running an experimental fusion programme since the mid-1980s with the indigenously built operational reactor Aditya.