ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization
Fusion leaders at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference discussed the path forward for regulating the burgeoning fusion industry. The speakers discussed government and private industry initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom, with a focus on efforts shaping the near-term deployment of commercial fusion machines.
A recurring theme was the need to explain the difference between fission and fusion. Representatives from the Department of Energy and Type One Energy highlighted this as an important distinction for regulators, as it will allow fusion to undergo its own independent maturation process for developing standards and regulations in the same way that fission has. Lea Perlas, Fusion Program director at the Virginia Department of Health, said that confusion between fission and fusion has been a common cause for misplaced concerns among community members surrounding Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ proposed fusion plant site near Richmond, Va.
John L. Johnson,a
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 1275-1283
Alternate Concepts | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A23032
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Experimental and theoretical work on the stellarator concept has established its position as the best alternate concept for fusion power. Its plasma properties are comparable to, or better than, those obtained in comparable tokamak devices. Confinement and transport should be adequate for reactor operation, with high-β operation possible. Although the coil configurations in present experiments are complicated, stellarator reactors could be simpler than tokamaks. The possibilities of steady-state operation, little recirculating power, good start-up and control properties, no disruptions, modular construction, and a built-in divertor make it an obvious direction for tokamak evolution as well as a viable alternate concept in its own right.