Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-01-24
u. S. and Britain Tell
Of A-Fusion Progress

gen In gaseous form in a vessel
in such a way that the highly
heated material would not melt
the vessel. Also. the tempera-
ture would have to be sustained
long enough in the initial
stages to start a self-sustaining
chain reaction.
The progress reported by
both nations concerned both
these points. but the tempera-
lures attained still are far from
the objective. and so is the
period Of 'containment."
Both nations said--as they
have previously-that their ex-
periments suggest that they
have actually produced fusion
reactions, even though for a
limited time and at tempera-
lures lower than would be
needed on a practical scale.
/ And both indicated that II
this were so. II would be an
important step in the quest.
But both .said-as they also
have said previously-tnat they
are still not sure that this is
the case. and that further ex-
periments will be needed to
establish this.
Individually, the highlights
Of the reports were these:
BRITISH:
The British announcement
said research at its atomic
headquarters at Harwell with
the apparatus called "Zeta" had
led British scientists to con-
clude that control OF the H
bomb reaction for power pur-
poses may well be a possibility
for the future. though its prac-
teal application Is still a long
way OF"
It said that temperatures
reached in "zeta" have been
as high as 5 million degrees
Observation-Disclosures than the
measured surface temperatures
Of any star"
But the announcement said
that many major problems re-
main 70 be solved before prac-
teal application of the re-
suits can be seriously con-
sidered and the work must be
expected to remain in the re-
search stage for many years
yet"
In the experiments. the hot.
gaseous hydrogen was kept
from the walls Of the contain
ing tube by magnetic means
for periods Of two to five
thouSandths of a second. the
report said. adding:
Whilst much longer times
perhaps sevaral seconds are
required for a useful power
output. there appears TO be no
fundamental reason why these
longer times. together with
much higher temperatures, can
not be achieved"
AMERICAN:
As summarized by DR.. Ruark,
the reported American expert
ments have succeeded in pro-
ducing in a plasma Especial
form Of Deuterium gas. tenn
peratures as high as 8 million
degrees centigrade and have
maintained these temperatures
for a few millionths of a Sec
ond."
He said this was an "appre-
ciable length of time In this
hCiu, Oub duucus
However. much longer con-
tainment and temperatures on
the order OF a hundred million
degrees would be required in
"a power-producing thermo-
nuclear reactor."
DR.. Ruark indicated in an
other statement that a tenn
perature Of 400 million degrees
would be needed If Deuterium
alone were used. but only 20 to
80 million degrees If equal
parts OF Deuterium and Tri-
tium were used. He explained
that the figure OF 100 million
degrees commonly used In re-
ferring 10 thermometer re-
quirements 'is just a rough
figure used for ease Of dis
cussion."
The scientist also declared
that research results reported
today "can be and will be ex-
ceeded" with still more power
full and somewhat larger APP
paratus." He did not say