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Report of the Versailles Sunmit Fusion Working Group's Subpanel for Planning 

 and Collaboration on Major New Fusion Research Facilities 



The Subpanel met in London on September 17, 1984. The Subpanel was 

 chartered to initiate the process of identifying the nature and timing of 

 the facilities required to establish the feasibility of fusion, taking 

 account of the existing national and regional facilities and activities. 

 The Subpanel was also "to attempt to identify potential opportunities for 

 sharing of responsibility during further planning and in preparation for 

 future development." The Subpanel began its deliberations by considering 

 program objectives, major milestones and technical issues. The Subpanel 

 reconfirmed that the common goal of the fusion programs was as stated in the 

 1982 report of the Working Group on Technology, Growth and Employment, 

 namely, "to bring to fruition a new energy source using fuels which are 

 practically inexhaustible and which possess potential advantages from an 

 environmental point of view." On the basis of the technical progress 

 reported at the IAEA conference on controlled fusion being held 

 simultaneously in London, the Subpanel members were pleased to note that 

 there was continued advance toward the common goal. 



The Subpanel also considered as an essential intermediate objective to 

 establish the scientific and technical data bases upon which decisions could 

 be built to proceed with the planning of a power producing demo reactor. To 

 reach this objective, the programs must all address major technical issues 

 in the areas of burning plasma physics, concept improvement, blanket 

 technology including energy recovery technology, and high neutron flux 

 materials development. This will require large facilities. Each of the 

 programs is working on its own approach to identify such facilities, 

 especially the next major facility to produce a burning plasma and to test 

 technological feasibility, and to complete the data bases required for 

 decisions on such facilities. The Subpanel found there was a 

 complementarity of approaches being explored now by the programs. Given the 

 extent of the technical work already under way to support future steps, 

 these decisions would certainly come after the next few Summit meetings. 

 This timing should be consistent with improved coordination in international 

 planning for such facilities. The Subpanel believed that useful collabora- 

 tion would require joint planning activities at an early stage. The 

 Subpanel judged that an essential element of this improved coordination of 

 planning would be close interaction on the scientific and technical level in 

 order to foster the development of an international consensus on the nature 

 and timing of the facilities required to explore the remaining issues in 

 fusion. 



