A Post-Geneva Review of Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion

This paper reviews fundamentals covered in earlier papers and also includes interpretations and additions prepared after the 1958 Geneva International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. The U.S.A. appears to be the leader in controlled fusion research, for the present, but gas plasma containment and heating is far from satisfactory in any of the ingenious devices being worked upon. The electronic scientist, with his knowledge of wave interactions in plasmas, may be able to solve some unexplained energy losses in pinch experiments, and he may also help to develop new containment means, such as by strong microwave fields. Also of great importance is new understanding of rapid inductive heating processes needed to get a plasma to thermonuclear temperatures. Such researches, even if they do not lead quickly to practical controlled fusion, will undoubtedly have useful by-products in electronics, chemistry, plasma propulsion, and astrophysics.