Japan plans to give up its bid to have the world's first nuclear fusion reactor built in Aomori Prefecture, paving the way for the multibillion dollar project to go to the European Union, government sources said Wednesday.
Japan will continue negotiations until the six-party ministerial meeting Tuesday in Moscow to decide the location of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. But it plans to back down if the European Union stands firm on bringing the project to Cadarache, in southern France, the sources said.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiken Sugiura implied that Japan has given up its tough stand on the bid, saying, "It is not that 100 percent (of the project) goes to the other party and we relinquish 100 percent."