Controlled fusion represents an opportunity to replace fossil fuels and nuclear fission as energy sources. Intensive research aimed at the peaceful utilization of thermonuclear energy, now in its 46th year, has benefited enormously from vigorous international scientific exchange and collaboration. Much has already been accomplished. In the approach to controlled fusion that uses magnetic confinement—the subject of this opinion piece—plasma temperatures obtained in experimental devices have risen from a few electron volts to over 40 keV; energy confinement times have stretched from tens of microseconds to over a second; total nuclear energy output has gone from zero to a few megajoules, amounting to about 30% of the externally supplied plasma‐heating energy.

Topics
Fossil fuels, Nuclear fission, Nuclear energy, Leptons, Plasma confinement, Plasma heating, Plasma temperature, Tokamaks
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© 1996 American Institute of Physics.
1996
American Institute of Physics
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