Ibaraki Gov. Masaru Hashimoto has said his prefecture will continue trying to be named host of an international fusion energy development project, arguing that the benefits of the project would outweigh the costs.
"As we hear official intergovernmental talks will be held in Tokyo in January, we want to make last-ditch efforts (to host the project)," Hashimoto said Monday.
The town of Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, is considered a top candidate site for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project, along with the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture.
Hashimoto called on the government not to hesitate to invest in the project, saying Japan "can never achieve advances in science and technology" if it is not prepared to back projects in which success is not guaranteed.
The ITER project, whose members comprise scientists and engineers from Canada, Europe, Japan and Russia, is designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful purposes.
Hashimoto reckoned that cost of the project is within the government's reach. "Considering the size of the state budget on research and development, (the ITER project) is definitely something the state can afford," he said. "It would cost the government a total of 20 billion yen to 30 billion yen (to maintain the project) per year or two years."
Hashimoto also said Japan should get actively involved in the project because of the large spillover effects it could generate for other technologies.
The ITER members hope to complete the project by around 2013. The project began in the late 1980s and the U.S. took part until 1998.