Fusion: from science to engineering

With the vision of an unlimited and readily accessible fuel supply, several nations of the industrialized world have committed themselves to continued development of fusion technology. Research on scientific feasibility is well under way, and the shift to solving the immense engineering problems is now getting started. These problems are sufficiently complex to place the commercialization of actual power-producing fusion facilities at least 40 years in the future. A great number of questions about the nature, scale, and purpose of fusion reactors remain unanswered, clouding the direction future development efforts should take. 8 references, 1 figure