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Progress toward the successful completion of any program improves as the resources available to that program increase. International cooperation is a mechanism that can increase the resources available to the U.S. fusion program. Viewed historically as a science program, the progress in fusion R&D in the United States has been significantly enhanced through this mechanism. However, as fusion moves increasingly into engineering development toward commercial application, the benefits of science exchange may appear to be increasingly counterbalanced by (a) the potential increase in administrative costs and time delays and (b) the opportunity cost associated with sharing potentially proprietary technology information. The transition between fusion development phases (scientific to engineering) requires a reassessment and revamping of the scientific nonstrategy for international cooperation. The assessment of costs and benefits of previous mechanisms for international cooperation provides some fundamen...

The status of experiments with radio-frequency (RF) heating of fusion devices and the existing plans for the next round of RF heating experiments were surveyed as the basis for an RF R and D program plan for the U.S. Department of Energy. These data are presented in tabular form, with an emphasis on the technological requirements for RF sources and transmission systems. Data for major plasma containment devices in the United States were gathered directly. Data for international devices were principally taken from published literature. The data represent the status of these experiments as of January 1, 1983.