A team of experts on an international nuclear fusion project has drawn up three compromise proposals in a bid to resolve the row over whether Japan or France will host the $12 billion, 30-year energy project, Japanese government sources said.

The six parties involved in the Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project have been unable to agree where to locate the world's first prototype nuclear fusion reactor. The proposals come after minister-level talks in December broke down due to a sharp disagreement over the two rival sites.

The experts from the six parties taking part in ITER -- China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States -- will submit the proposals for discussion during vice minister-level talks Saturday in Vienna. The plans basically envision facilities separate from but supplementary to ITER.