French scientist leading nuclear fusion project dies at 72

PARIS (AP) — Bernard Bigot, a French scientist leading a vast international effort to demonstrate that nuclear fusion can be a viable source of energy, has died. He was 72. The organization behind the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, said Bigot died Saturday from an unspecified illness. The organization’s director general since March 2015, Bigot was approaching the midway point of his second term, due to end in 2025. An ITER statement described his death as “a tragic blow to the global fusion community.” His deputy, Eisuke Tada, will take over leadership of the ITER project during the search for Bigot’s successor.