Dear Colleagues, A year after siting negotiations began, "the EU Competitiveness Council mandated the European Commission, the union's executive arm, to start ITER with fewer international partners if no deal could be reached with Japan." Additional information can be found in this News item in Nature: http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041122/full/041122-16.html Here's a sampling of articles in the press: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4044895.stm http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2004/11/28/2003212920 http://euobserver.com/?aid=17865&sid=9 Norman Graf