    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [January 30, 2003]
    [Page 109]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Joining the International Thermonuclear Experimental
    Reactor Collaboration
    January 30, 2003

        I am pleased to announce that the United States will join ITER, an
    ambitious international research project to harness the promise of
    fusion energy. The results of ITER will advance the effort to produce
    clean, safe, renewable, and commercially available fusion energy by the
    middle of this century. Commercialization of fusion has the potential to
    dramatically improve America's energy security while significantly
    reducing air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases.
        The United States will be working with the United Kingdom, other
    European Union nations, Russia, China, Japan, and Canada on the creation
    of ITER. Today I am directing the Secretary of Energy to represent the
    United States at the upcoming ITER meetings in St. Petersburg, Russia.
    We welcome the opportunity to work with our partners to make fusion
    energy a reality.