Rethinking the future of magnetic fusion: pushing too hard for energy breakeven now could cripple the program 10 years from now

Budget cuts in fusion programs could limit research on the tokomak and linear tandem-mirror designs and preclude new alternative designs. With no guarantee that either design will reach the energy-breakeven point, unfunded alternatives will not be able to save the program. The Magnetic Fusion Advisory Committee (MFAC), formed in May 1982 to help DOE negotiate, heard arguments for throwing all efforts into proving the two mainline approaches and counterarguments for developing cheaper and safer alternatives. The history of the ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT) proof-of-principle program illustrates the dilemma. New features in the tandem-mirror program do the same. Among the alternatives seeking research funds are the stellarator, the reversed-field pinch, and the compact-toroids concepts