China will send 30 scientists to France for the construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the world's most advanced nuclear fusion reactor.

Zhou Caipin, one of the scientists, said he would fly to Paris next month for the project, which more than 30 countries signed up to on Tuesday.

The ITER plan is aimed at developing a clean, cheap and abundant energy source to replace fossil fuels, said Zhou, vice director of the Center for Fusion Science under the Southwest China Institute of Physics.

After months of wrangling, France edged out Japan last year in its bid to host the 10-billion-euro (12.8 billion US dollars) ITER, which will be built at Cadarache, near the southern city of Marseille.

China will fund 10 percent of the total cost of the project.

China, the United States, South Korea, India, the European Union, Russia and Japan are participating in the ten-year project.

"China will share equally the intellectual properties coming from the scientific developments and research results during the construction of the reactor and implementation of the project," he said.

The seven participants of ITER signed in May the draft text of the Prospective Agreement on the Establishment of the ITER International Fusion Energy Organization for the Joint Implementation of the ITER Project as well as the draft text of the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the ITER.

The project is expected to recreate the conditions of the sun under which a nuclear fusion reaction takes place, given it the named "artificial sun", said Zhou.

China would contribute its due effort and promote its development, said Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology.

Controlled nuclear fusion is seen as an efficient way to generate infinite, clean energy to replace fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

Scientists believe the fuel, deuterium, can be extracted from the sea and an enormous amount of energy can be obtained from a deuterium-tritium fusion reaction under a temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius.

After nuclear fusion, the deuterium extracted from one liter of sea water will produce the energy equivalent to 300 liters of gasoline.

China's self-designed superconducting experimental Tokamak fusion device, dubbed EAST (experimental advanced superconducting Tokamak), is undergoing trials. It is the first one of its kind in the world.

EAST could offer research and experimental experiences for the construction of ITER, said Xu.

Source: Xinhua