Fusion research in Japan

The importance of fusion power to Japan is perhaps the greatest among nations of the world. The scarcity of other energy resources such as oil, coal, and even solar energy (as the land is small) makes it almost imperative to depend on nuclear power for her primary energy need in the future. A high population density means that the radiation hazard problems are very much greater than in other nations such as the USA. Earthquakes and unstable geological features pose a rather difficult problem in storing radioactive wastes which tend to be produced more from ordinary fission reactors, including breeders, rather than from fusion reactors, if the latter are practicable. Japan has two research groups actively engaged in fusion research, one is under the direction of Japan Atomic Energy Commission, and the other is under the direction of Ministry of Education. Work covers both reactor core plasmas and reactor technology. Japan is presently making a five-year plan to do scientific feasibility experiments in the scale comparable to the so-called D-T burner (USA) or JET