European Fusion Programs

The Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) has entered into a number of contractual associations with Western European research establishments during the past three years in connection with studies in the field of controlled nuclear fusion. One of the more recent of these arrangements has been completed with the North Rhine‐Westphalia Nuclear Research Center near Jülich in West Germany. A three‐year controlled nuclear‐fusion research program has been initiated at the Center and will be carried out with the help of contributions from Euratom amounting to forty percent of the total cost of the project. The Center’s Plasma Physics Institute, which has a research staff of 118, has been working for several years on magnetic‐pinch techniques for achieving high‐temperature plasma compression, and that work is to be expanded with the additional funds made available under the contract with Euratom.