Panel Discussion: Progress and Plans for Magnetic Fusion. Summary of Comments on Recent Progress in Fusion Research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

摘要

Progress in fusion research is marked not so much by a few giant steps as by a continual number of small steps, which yield a steady advance toward the goal of producing a fusion reactor. During the past year, there have been two such steps in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) program: the experimental demonstration of access to the second stable region of beta in the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF); and the acceleration of a frozen hydrogen pellet by an intense electron beam. This paper discusses these steps.