Brexit threatens Britain ’s place at the nuclear top table | Ian Chapman

The UK is currently a world leader in fusion research; leaving Euratom would be calamitousIn the south of France, the largest scientific experiment mankind has ever embarked upon is rising out of the ground. This facility,the Iter project, will demonstrate nuclear fusion power on a commercial scale, involving the European Union, US, Japan, South Korea, China, Russia and India. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars, and bringing it to Earth has long been a staple of science fiction fantasies.It is an energy source that, instead of burning fossil fuels, uses water; it produces no long-lived waste and can operate alongside solar, wind and other renewables to power the world to a carbon-free future. Iter will be operational within a decade and will represent a huge step towards fusion, revolutionising the way we generate electricity in the middle part of this century.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - July 15, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Ian Chapman Tags: Nuclear power Energy Science EU referendum and Brexit European Union Environment Article 50 UK news Foreign policy Politics Source Type: news