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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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This review of the US fusion research program has two parts. The first part (after a brief primer on fusion) surveys the plasma and fusion research issues that dominate the present US program. The second part discusses in more detail two specific topics---the fusion-fission hybrid and the possibility of thermal equilibrium confinement---in more detail. The review assumes very little prior knowledge of plasma physics or fusion research.