§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy what is the United Kingdom annual contribution to the joint research centre fusion research project at Culham, Oxfordshire; and what was the annual expenditure of the Department on its own independent research on fusion.
§ Mr. John MooreNuclear fusion research is carried out in the United Kingdom by the Atomic Energy Authority whose fusion work forms part of a collaborative programme with partner organisations of Western Europe and is partly funded by Euratom. In addition, the authority is host organisation to the Joint European Torus—JET—project, a Euratom fusion experiment which is sited at Culham and towards which a direct financial contribution is made by the authority. The Government help to finance the Euratom fusion programme through their contribution to the Community budget. The United Kingdom's total contribution to the cost of fusion research is expected to be around £30 million in the current year.