Inside the Energy Department's experimental tokamak, San Diego. Image courtesy DOE
In September 1958, 61 nations and nine special agencies participated in an Atoms for Peace event in Geneva, Switzerland, filled with exhibits of fusion devices, operating fission reactors, models of nuclear power plants, and a model of an atom smasher. In this atmosphere of cooperation (and competition), the US and the USSR discussed magnetic fusion, a technology considered a source of unlimited energy for the future. Now, more than 30 years later, those discussions have produced a unique experiment in international collaboration, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactors, or ITER.
>Read more: Is ITER the way?
The Bulletin elevates expert voices above the noise. But as an independent, nonprofit media organization, our operations depend on the support of readers like you. Help us continue to deliver quality journalism that holds leaders accountable. Your support of our work at any level is important. In return, we promise our coverage will be understandable, influential, vigilant, solution-oriented, and fair-minded. Together we can make a difference.