Next generation tokamaks: the ITER and NET projects

The extensive effort of the world-wide scientific community to develop magnetic confinement fusion is reaching the end of its scientific feasibility testing phase. Through international collaboration in the NET and ITER projects, the successor to these experiments is being designed, with the aim of operation around the year 2000. The aim of this machine will be to investigate the performance of reactor-grade plasmas, and demonstrate the technologies that can turn such a heat source into a commercial power source. This Paper describes the progress made with these designs. (author)