The site of the 4.5-billion-dollar project, backed by the European Union (EU), Japan, the United States, Canada, China, Russia and South Korea, is likely to be decided at a Washington meeting on December 19-20.

Backers of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactorproject hope it will replicate the kind of nuclear fusion seen in the sun to deliver clean energy from hydrogen.

The EU last month chose France as the bloc's candidate to host the prestigious venture. The final choice is widely expected to be with the southern French town of Cadarache and the northern Japanese village of Rokkasho-mura, as a Canadian bid is believed to be facing funding problems.

EU Commissioner Philippe Busquin stressed Monday however that while the issue of where to base the project was important, dividing up work on the project between its international partners was "a more important factor."

Busquin is on a five-day Japan visit from Sunday to participate in a meeting of Group of Eight research ministers to promote future scientific cooperation between Japan and the EU.

He also said the EU hoped for collaboration with Japan in fuel cell technologies and suggested the United States may join the EU's Galileo satellite navigation and positioning system, accurate to within one metre (yard), that is scheduled to become operational in 2008.

"We cannot deny the fact that it is a political issue but at the same time there is science and technology implication as well," he said.

"In that sense, the Galileo project is a sufficiently important dynamic project ... It is fully possible for us to see the involvement or participation by the US in this programme," he said.

Busquin said it went without saying that Japan's participation was considered important and Japanese companies that would invest in it would be able to expect "appropriate returns," he said.

Busquin also noted the EU was to spend 20 billion euros in science and technology areas under a four-year programme started in 2003, stressing programmes were not confined to European researchers.

European research programmes "are mostly open to (research) teams from the rest of the world, too," he said, adding the EU wanted many Japanese scientists to be involved in them.

"Japanese researchers can be funded by Europe if they are part of a team with other researchers, as long as the project is coordinated by a European."

Separately the commissioner told AFP that his visit was partly intended to "spread the message that the door is open," because the Japanese still do not seem to understand clearly how to become involved in European research programmes.

WAR.WIRE