German Chancellor Merkel on "mission fusion"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants more research into nuclear fusion. "Nuclear fusion is a form of energy that could provide an infinite amount of energy for us," said Merkel in her weekly broadcast last Saturday 30 January.
"Nuclear fusion could provide endless energy without producing radioactive waste," Merkel, a former physicist, said in the podcast. "It is worth investing in such a technology of the future, but no one country can do this alone. You need international scientific cooperation."
She said that nuclear fusion, along with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, was a "future technology" worth investing in. The Chancellor added that scientific and technological research should be an economic priority as Germany recovers from recession. "Without research, without investment in the future, we will not be able to maintain our prosperity," she said.
Underlining her words, Merkel paid a visit on Monday to the Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald. The Institute is the home of the stellarator project Wendelstein 7-X.
In a press release commenting Merkel's visit to Greifswald, Thomas Bareiss, Member of the German Bundestag, underlined the Chancellor's commitment to fusion research. "To meet our long-term energy needs, we must continue to invest into fusion research. [...] It would be a serious mistake, to deprive ourselves from fusion as a means of safe, economic, environmental and climate-friendly and above all, inexhaustible energy."
