Letter to my local MP

Dear Diane Abbott,

I have never before been moved to write to my local MP, but I feel the EU has made a grave mistake. Please see the following article on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12007965

The EU has recently rejected a 1.4bn euro financing package for the ITER Nuclear Fusion project in France. Let me explain why I think this is such a huge error.

What price would be too high to save the world? Imagine an asteroid was heading for the earth. How much would you want the government to invest in a project to divert/destroy it? A billion? Ten? A hundred? A trillion pounds? This may sound melodramatic, but a successful fusion technology could, literally, solve our energy problem. It works by fusing two atoms of ‘heavy hydrogen’. The resulting helium atom has slightly less mass than the two origin atoms, as that mass has been converted into energy according to E=mc². This is how the sun produces energy, and the physics have been well known to modern science for decades. The problems are in the engineering. Making a working reactor is devilishly difficult.

The benefits of Nuclear Fusion technology are enormous. To summarize:

1) We have enough fuel, in the seas of the world, to provide power to mankind for millions of years.

2) The only by-product of the process is Helium, an element which is both completely harmless and industrially useful. There are no emissions or radioactive waste.

3) Due to the energy density involved in fusion, a tiny amount of fuel provides an enormous amount of energy.

Contrast this with the problematic means we currently have for producing energy. Emissions from fossil fuels are destroying the biosphere. Radioactive waste from fission plants is dangerous for thousands of years. Renewable energy production is notorious for its low energy density, i.e. solar or wind generation. Fusion comes with none of these problems. I am sure that you, as a working MP, do not need to be told about the litany of issues associated with our energy needs. I do not believe it is an exaggeration to say that Fusion, were it to work, would solve them all. Imagine the impact that would have on society.

In light of this fact, 1.4bn euros seems a fairly paltry sum, especially when you consider how much has been spent on bailing out banks across Europe. Since the environment is indifferent to national boundaries, if the EU does not step in with this finance deal, the British government should.

It strikes me as strange that people will take to the streets to protest tuition fees, fox hunting or Corporate tax evasion. Fusion research dwarfs them all in terms of the positive impact it would have on all the people of the World. What is necessary is for scientifically literate people to be in positions of power, to lobby for this emerging technology. As my representative MP, my request to you is that you research and understand the potential of this technology. You then need the imagination to see the ramifications to society if the technology is successful.

I look forward to your reply.

Regards,