These Guys Fight About Anything
Now Korea and Japan are fighting over a nuclear fusion reactor to be built by either Japan or the European Union. Japan is bidding to build the reactor in Japan but the Japanese government has worked out a deal with the European Union to drop their bid and let France build it if they are given economic incentives:
In earlier negotiations Japan and the EU agreed on a number of measures that included giving the conceding country positions amounting to 20 percent of the 200 researchers needed for the project, Kyodo said.
The deal also called for the building of related research facilities in the country that gave up its bid, Kyodo said.
However, Korea and China do not like this idea:
Kyodo said China and South Korea have expressed reservations about an agreement reached between Japan and the European Union, which is backing France, that would provide a number of incentives to the side that gives up its bid.
ITER — also Latin for “the way” — is backed by the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. It aims to mimic the way the sun produces energy, potentially providing an inexhaustible source of low-cost energy using seawater as fuel.
The problem the Koreans have is that Japan is getting preferential treatment even though they will be paying the same amount of money as South Korea for the project. I can understand Korea’s position but Korea could of made a bid themselves to build the reactor but didn’t. Japan did make a bid and is getting incentives from the EU for possibly cancelling its bid. Now would Korea and China be critical of incentives given to the EU if Japan were to win the bid? Probably not. That is why there arguement seems hollow.
Even in the international affairs, South Korea has been behaving childish. I always wonder if Korean understand that their economy can not stand alone without supports and existence of Japan. For example, the largest electric instrument company in Korea must import more than 70% of parts from Japan for their products. Even their currency Korea Won has been guaranteed by the Bank of Japan in the international capital market.
It looks their preferrence to China has strengthened more and more in recent. Originally Korea had been a slavert country of China for a few thousand yeards till Sino-Japan war in late 19th century. Their relationship seems still very strong, China is still their master obviously. I don't know if it's a wise wat for them.
I've been reading about the promise of controlled nuclear fusion since I took high school chemistry class in 1968. It would solve all our current energy problems, but the hard part (extremely hard) is "controlling" the reaction. Last time I checked, the theory involved using a magnetic "bottle" to control the reaction; the scientists had succeeded in doing this, but only for some umpteen millionths of a second.
I clicked on the link but it gave no details about how much progress has been made in the last 10 or 15 years. So I suspect that obtaining usable energy for mankind from this process may still be decades away (if indeed it ever happens). Though I'm glad to hear that scientists are still pursuing it.
In slightly related news, I saw an interesting piece on the first nuclear reactor to open in the US in years — if the plan goes through. I believe it was a Japanese design. It is planned for an area of Alaska where power is scare and built by expensive local generators. The nuclear reactor is small. I don't remember exactly, but it is self-contained and supposed to supply energy for the limited needs of the town for a few decades.
This is the only news link I found on the item after a quick look, but it tells the story.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story…
About your comment "The problem the Koreans have is that Japan is getting preferential treatment even though they will be paying the they will be paying the same amount of money as South Korea for the project.". I do not believe the original plan included the same budget payment by these three countries, Japan, China, and South Korea.
Anyway, for the nuclear fusion technology, there are only two countries actively working on it: Japan and France. If both countries agreed the bid, that's done. The other countries, including U.S., are not major players in this technology area.
In my opinion, China and South Korea believed that this would be another chance to get technology transfer from Japan in the future almost free, if the reactor is built in Japan. Once the original plan fails, those two countries have started to complain.
If they do not like the resolution, they can invest to the nuclear fusion technology by their own, instead of just demanding "free fruits".