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An Assessment of the Department of Energy's Office of Fusion Energy Sciences Program (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Overview: Assessment and Historical Context
Pages 9-13

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From page 9...
... This examination of the magnetic confinement plasma research funded by the U.S. fusion program and of the standing of this research in the international fusion community has led to assessments in three areas: scientific progress, the development of plasma confinement configurations, and links to the broader scientific community.
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From page 10...
... It is important to note that the quality of fusion science is not universally appreciated within the broader scientific community, perhaps because fusion has been viewed as a directed energy development project rather than as a scientific enterprise. Isolation of the researchers inside the fusion program from those outside the program is another possible cause for the low opinion of fusion science despite its high quality.
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From page 11...
... In 1985, the G7 countries sponsored an international collaboration to design the International Toroidal Experimental Reactor (ITER) , reflecting optimism that continued tokamak scale-up would result in a large experimental reactor in which burning plasma science and fusion engineering issues could be addressed simultaneously.
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From page 12...
... However, this prospect will not be realized until identifying and answering key scientific questions become central to program planning, budget formulation, and management philosophy. INSTITUTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS: INTERACTIONS OF THE FUSION PROGRAM WITH ALLIED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY There was a clear history of intellectual exchange between the fusion plasma community and the broader scientific community in the early, pioneering years of the fusion program.
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From page 13...
... Industry supports major efforts in the plasma processing of semiconductor chips. Although many of the problems studied in general plasma science do not strictly pertain to the very-high-temperature fusion regime, collaboration with general plasma scientists is one of the main ways in which fusion scientists can interact with the broader scientific community.
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Key Terms

  • fusion program
  • fusion research
  • fusion science
  • energy sciences
  • plasma science

  • broader scientific
  • plasma confinement
  • energy science
  • energy goal
  • fusion plasma

  • scientific questions
  • nuclear physics
  • sciences program
  • technology fusion
  • energy development

  • experimental reactor
  • fusion power
  • energy advisory
  • program planning
  • energy research

  • inertial confinement
  • confinement program
  • magnetic fusion
  • fusion community
  • key scientific

  • plasma physics
  • directed energy
  • confinement configurations
  • scientific issues
  • sciences advisory


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