International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) reportedly started assembling the new sun in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, southern France. The European Nation collaborated with 7 countries, including Korea, China, Japan, and the U.S., to form the ITER project, an experiment to make a new sun.
The aim of the project is to bring a whole new energy th
at does not destroy the environment because it is made not by nuclear fission but nuclear fusion, which comparatively has a low risk of leaking or exploding. ITER is bringing together more than a million pieces, and the heat energy is made by fusing Deuterium and Lithium which are brought up from the ocean.
The ITER project first started drawing the blueprint in 2007 and it has taken a long thirteen years to actualize the plan. The assembling of the pieces is to be done in 2025, and the experiment will be able to begin after the assembly is completed. A piece weighs thousands of tons and is as big as a four-story building. Participating countries have divided the parts to produce. The EU is sharing 45.6% of the total expenditure while the other seven countries share 9.09% each.
Korea has been participating since 2003 and had been given a crucial section, the Thermal Shield. Jo Rae-Jin, Chief of SamHong Machines, stated the shield is as tall and wide as 20 meters. The maximum permissible error is 2 mm, which is very difficult to meet. Along with that, he also mentioned that the most difficult part is to make a machine that has never been made in history.
ITER is a Latin word meaning "road." Creating new energy will affect the entire global population, making it the biggest project in the history of science.