EU/US : POTOCNIK PUSHES FOR RENEWAL OF ITER FUNDING.

The United States' cutting of funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) has led a concerned EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik to lobby top US officials in Washington. Potocnik said on 13 February the US's cancelling in December 2007 of its planned US$160 million contribution for 2008 "makes things more difficult" for implementing ITER. The commissioner met with key figures on the dossier, including Congressman Bart Gordon, House of Representatives Science Committee Chair John Marburger, US President George Bush's top science advisor, and Raymond Orbach at the Department of Energy.

Policy experts in Washington said thatCongress and the US administration back ITER on principle. However, in the final haggling over the 2008 US budget, ITER got dropped off as it was deemed more politically expendable than funds for domestic projects. President Bush is trying to make amends, proposing in early February funding...