It will be heavier than three Eiffel Towers; the material for its superconducting magnets would stretch around the equator twice; and it has a price tag of more than €15 billion ($16.8 billion), making it one of the largest international science endeavors in history. The ITER partners – China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States – represent half the world’s population.
所谓“国际热核聚变反应堆（ITER reactor）”的一切都极其庞大。其重量超过三座艾菲尔铁塔；所用超导磁体材料拉直后可以绕地球赤道两周；该项目价值150亿欧元（合168亿美元），当之无愧成为史上规模最大的国际科研项目。ITER合作国——中国、欧盟、印度、日本、俄罗斯、韩国和美国——占据了全世界将近一半的人口总数。如果项目取得成功，该反应堆将产生五亿瓦的聚变电能，从而为商业反应堆的应用开辟道路。