Ministers to sign fusion accord

An international consortium is set to sign a formal agreement to build an experimental nuclear fusion reactor.
The multi-billion-euro project - known as Iter, or "the way" in Latin - will aim to produce energy from nuclear reactions like those that fuel the Sun.
The deal, to be finalised in Paris, follows years of talks between South Korea, Russia, China, the EU, the US, India and Japan.
The project will be based at Cadarache, France, and run for more than 30 years.
If all goes well, officials then intend to build a demonstration power plant before rolling the technology out to the world.
Big reward
"This truly global endeavour gives an indication of how seriously this research is being taken by governments of countries in all stages of development," the Iter Director-General Nominee, Kaname Ikeda, wrote in last week's Green Room on the BBC News website.
"Fusion powers the Sun and stars. Our own Sun is an extremely large fusion reactor, but imitating the process down on Earth is far from easy."

Fusion: Necessary investment In a fusion reaction, energy is released when light atomic nuclei - the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium - are fused together to form heavier atomic nuclei.
To use controlled fusion reactions on Earth as an energy source, it is necessary to heat a gas to temperatures exceeding 100 million Celsius - many times hotter than the centre of the Sun.
The technical requirements to do this, which scientists have spent decades developing, are immense; but the rewards, if Iter can be made to work successfully, are extremely attractive.
"One of the attractions of fusion is the tiny amount of fuel needed. The release of energy from a fusion reaction is 10 million times greater than from a typical chemical reaction, such as burning a fossil fuel," Mr Ikeda said.
Lead partner
Cadarache is situated about 60km (40 miles) from Marseille in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region. It currently hosts Tore-Supra, one of the existing European centres for fusion research.
Work to clear a wooded area for the Iter buildings will begin in the spring. Ancillary and power facilities and a visitors' centre will go up in 2008. The reactor itself will start to take shape in 2009.
The French site was chosen after a long period of bartering between the Iter parties; and the EU, as the host bloc, is shouldering 50% of the five-billion-euro construction costs.
The deal to be signed by ministers on Tuesday puts those negotiations into effect, establishing the international organisation that will implement the Iter fusion energy project
The signature will take place at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, hosted by the president of France, Jacques Chirac, and by the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
After the signature ceremony, the first meeting of the Interim Iter Council will take place.