World’s Best Shot at Fusion Power Shows Cracks in Silver Lining

Cracks in a key silver-lined component are creating new delays and cost overruns in the $23 billion project to prove whether nuclear fusion can generate limitless clean energy.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, under construction in southern France is being funded by the European Union and countries including China, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea. The world’s biggest experiment aims to show that mimicking the power that makes stars shine can produce clean energy that could help slow global warming on Earth.

But new ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi warned members this week the project faces problems that are ...