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
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2026
Latest News
Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
Akira Hasegawa, Liu Chen, Michael E. Mauel, Harry H. Warren, Sadayoshi Murakami
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 22 | Number 1 | August 1992 | Pages 27-34
Technical Paper | D-3He/Fusion Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A30050
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An ideal magnetic container for a D-3He fusion reactor must ensure both the stability of the confined plasma and the ability to control the confinement of fusion products. A dipole magnetic field may be suitable for D-3He fusion since it is predicted to be able to confine high-beta plasmas while allowing extraction of the high-energy charged fusion products for direct conversion as well as removal of fusion ash using resonant and / or nonresonant static magnetic perturbations. In a dipole magnetic field, even an equilibrium plasma having a phase-space density satisfying , where ψ is the flux function, has a steep enough pressure prof He for high fusion reactivity within the core yet is stable to low-frequency instabilities for local beta exceeding unity. At the outer wall, the plasma density and temperature can be very low, and stability can be obtained by line-tying or localized magnetic cusps, which can be used for direct conversion. New calculations of fusion product control and plasma stability with isotropic pitch-angle distributions are described. In addition, the parameters of a new, higher field dipole reactor design are discussed.