In the heart of Provence, some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet are setting the stage for what is being called the world’s largest and most ambitious science experiment.
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project agreement was formally signed in 2006 by the US, EU, Russia, China, India, and South Korea at the Elysée Palace in Paris.
There are now more than 30 countries collaborating on the effort to build the experimental device, projected to weigh 23,000 tonnes and withstand temperatures of up to 150 million°C when complete.
“In a way, this is like a national laboratory, a big research institute facility. But it’s the convergence of the national laboratories, really, of 35 countries,” Coblentz, ITER’s head of communications, told Euronews Next.