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particularly Japan and the European Community, pursue ambi- 

 tious national magnetic fusion R&D programs. However, it 

 is the general belief of these experts that all partici- 

 pants benefit from international cooperative efforts. 

 Therefore, international cooperative efforts, of themselves 

 do not directly affect the U.S. leadership position in 

 fusion energy development. These experts also believe that 

 fusion R&D is at such an early stage of development that it 

 is highly unlikely any country could use, to its commercial 

 advantage, information obtained during an ongoing 

 international cooperative effort. 



— The U.S. and foreign fusion energy experts we spoke to 

 generally acknowledged that there is excellent cooperation 

 in international cooperative activities between the United 

 States and the other major participants. Problems, such as 

 the timing of the release of research data, have generally 

 been effectively resolved informally among the participants 

 themselves. 



— U.S. industry's role in international fusion cooperative 

 projects is limited by cost and risk factors. In the over- 

 all U.S. fusion R&D program, the private sector is 

 generally involved only in constructing facilities and "" 

 fabricating components for DOE. In contrast, Japanese 

 industry plays an active role in planning, designing, 

 constructing, and operating Japan's fusion R&D facilities. 

 This difference may give Japan a significant advantage as 

 fusion energy development approaches commercialization. 



Appendix I also contains a brief overview of DOE's fusion 

 program and provides detailed answers to the questions we 

 addressed . 



DOE and the Department of State believe that this report is a 

 fair and accurate discussion of the topic. The views of appropri- 

 ate officials of each agency and those of the Office of Science 

 and Technology Policy have been incorporated in the report. Their 

 complete comments are included in appendixes II, III and IV. As 

 arranged with your office, we plan to make no further distribution 

 of this report until 7 days after its issuance, unless you make 

 its contents public. At that time, we will send copies to the 

 Secretary of Energy and make copies available to others upon 

 request. 



