Fuss over Fusion

Superheat from Princeton

In theory, no single energy source has seemed more promising than fusion, the process by which science seeks to kindle the same nuclear fires as those in the sun. But until recently, progress has been painfully slow; fusion is not expected to produce power before well into the 21st century. Now an experiment at Princeton University has ignited new optimism about the future of fusion.

For 20 milliseconds, the doughnut-shaped device known as the Princeton Large Torus held a plasma of hydrogen and deuterium in a strong magnetic field at a temperature of 60 million degrees centigrade--four times higher than the sun's own internal heat and better than twice the mark set at Princeton last December. Equally important, feared instabilities at that temperature did not occur, making the physicists more confident than ever that they will be able to demonstrate the scientific feasibility of fusion by reaching the magical break-even point: when as much energy comes out of a reaction as goes into it.

In the latest work the Princeton physicists exceeded their own expectations. The addition of four high-power "neutral beam" injectors, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, pumped extra energy into the hot plasma, and a shrewd switch to graphite from tungsten in critical components of the torus' vacuum chamber reduced heat loss. The director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Melvin Gottlieb, is now convinced that the break-even point can be reached with Princeton's new and bigger torus, slated to begin operation in 1981.

Yet if scientists thought they were putting superheat on the Carter Administration for more fusion funding, they were probably mistaken. John Deutch, the Department of Energy's research chief, pointedly noted that while the Princeton work was gratifying, it was not a "breakthrough." Thus the Administration remains tilted more toward conservation and coal, less toward advanced research, however exciting it may be.

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