PARIS - Japanese and EU officials struck a deal Thursday that maps out future cooperation over a ground-breaking nuclear reactor, the French government said, opening the way for a long-awaited decision on where it will be sited.
Francois d'Aubert, a deputy research minister, said the technical agreement was reached at a meeting in Geneva.
"This balanced accord could lead Japan to decide not to be the host country for the reactor," he said in a statement in Paris.
"If that is the case, France would welcome the ITER reactor at Cadaraches. The end is in sight!"
The European Union has been campaigning for years to have the ITER project (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) built at Cadaraches in the southeast of France rather than arch-rival Japan.
The hugely ambitious, multi-billion-dollar plant is designed to emulate the power of the sun in using nuclear fusion to create what its backers say could become an inexhaustible source of energy.
In his statement, Francois d'Aubert said the deal "defines the contours of one of the most ambitious approaches between the EU and Japan in the field of fusion research."
He said it "lays out the basis for a consensus on the siting of ITER within a very short time."
Thursday's talks, between the EU commission's research director, Achilleas Mitsos, and Japan's chief negotiator Tetsuhisa Shirakawa, were held to tackle the issue of compensation for the country that does not host the project.
There has been much speculation the EU could offer Japan sweeteners such as a share of construction contracts in return for bowing out.
France has been bullish in recent days amid signs of a deal after years of wrangling, and President Jacques Chirac all but declared victory two days ago during an interview on state television.
In Japan, too, newspaper reports also suggest France has won.
Reports in Thursday's Japanese press said the Geneva talks were to conclude an agreement under which Japan would be a preferred source of materials if the reactor is built in France.
However in Brussels, a European Commission spokeswoman would only say that no agreement had been reached in Geneva on where the plant would be sited.
"This morning's meeting was very constructive, and helped us make progress on the roles of the host and non-host countries," Antonia Mochan, spokeswoman for EU science and research commissioner Janez Potocnik, told AFP.
"We are very hopeful of an agreement by July," she added.
The ITER project is budgeted at 10 billion euros (13 billion dollars), but the plant is not expected to be operational before 2050.
If successful, it would clear the way for a plentiful supply of clean power as the world moves away from coal, oil and natural gas.
Construction work is scheduled to start by the end of the year.
05/05/2005 16:32 GMT