South Korea will start full-fledged experiments on nuclear fusion that could bring a limitless source of clean energy to the nation, the government said Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), after being completed in September 2007, has been going under trial runs to check its capabilities.
The system of the KSTAR, if perfected, is safe to use since it cannot explode, and produces almost no pollution with the radioactive waste created becoming harmless in a few years.
The ministry said that the KSTAR is going under preparations to meet its goal, which will put South Korea in a good position to become a "pilot" test bed and in the long-run become a satellite reactor to the larger International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) being built in France.
Nine foreign laboratories have already expressed a wish to work with South Korea, with the number likely to double in 2010 if this year's tests turn successful, the ministry added.