Next month

From the hill above the small town of Vinon-sur-Verdon in southern Provence, you can see two suns,’ writes Slovenian journalist Boštjan Videmšek. ‘Right before sunset, the effect is even more startling. One of the two suns has been blazing for the past four and a half billion years and is slowly setting. The other is being built by thousands of human minds and hands, and is – very slowly – rising. The last of the day’s sun rays cast a magical glow over the humongous construction site, where the world’s greatest fusion reactor is being built.’

The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project, a joint venture by 35 countries responsible for 85 per cent of global GDP, is the world’s greatest single scientific project. Nothing similar exists, and it never has – at least not with a common humanitarian goal in mind. The ITER researchers’ aim is to prove that nuclear fusion – a process constantly taking place inside our Sun and other stars – can be utilised on Earth to produce electric energy on an industrial scale. The ultimate goal is to help humanity break with our suicidal dependence on fossil fuels.

In next month’s issue of Geographical, Videmšek and photographer Matjaž Krivic take a closer look at this remarkable science experiment in the south of France, asking whether it can achieve its goals and examining the hurdles that stand in the way.