Subject: Conventional Fusion FAQ Section 0/11 (Intro) Part 1/3 (Overview)
From: Robert F. Heeter
Date: 9 Jan 1997 11:54:09 GMT
Archive-name: fusion-faq/section0-intro/part1-overview
Last-modified: 26-Feb-1995
Posting-frequency: More-or-less-biweekly
Disclaimer: While this section is still evolving, it should
be useful to many people, and I encourage you to distribute
it to anyone who might be interested (and willing to help!!!).
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### Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Fusion Research
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# Written/Edited by:
Robert F. Heeter
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
# Last Revised February 26, 1995
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*** A. Welcome to the Conventional Fusion FAQ!
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* 1) Contents
This file is intended to indicate
(A) that the Conventional Fusion FAQ exists,
(B) what it discusses,
(C) how to find it on the Internet, and
(D) the status of the Fusion FAQ project
* 2) What is the Conventional Fusion FAQ?
The Conventional Fusion FAQ is a comprehensive, relatively
nontechnical set of answers to many of the frequently asked
questions about fusion science, fusion energy, and fusion
research. Additionally, there is a Glossary of Frequently
Used Terms In Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Research, which
explains much of the jargon of the field. The Conventional
Fusion FAQ originated as an attempt to provide
answers to many of the typical, basic, or introductory questions
about fusion research, and to provide a listing of references and
other resources for those interested in learning more. The
Glossary section containing Frequently Used Terms (FUT) also
seeks to facilitate communication regarding fusion by providing
brief explanations of the language of the field.
* 3) Scope of the Conventional Fusion FAQ:
Note that this FAQ discusses only the conventional forms of fusion
(primarily magnetic confinement, but also inertial and
muon-catalyzed), and not new/unconventional forms ("cold fusion",
sonoluminescence-induced fusion, or ball-lightning fusion). I
have tried to make this FAQ as uncontroversial and comprehensive
as possible, while still covering everything I felt was
important / standard fare on the sci.physics.fusion newsgroup.
* 4) How to Use the FAQ:
This is a rather large FAQ, and to make it easier to find what
you want, I have outlined each section (including which questions
are answered) in Section 0, Part 2 (posted separately). Hopefully it
will not be too hard to use. Part (C) below describes how to find
the other parts of the FAQ via FTP or the World-Wide Web.
* 5) Claims and Disclaimers:
This is an evolving document, not a completed work. As such,
it may not be correct or up-to-date in all respects.
This document should not be distributed for profit, especially
without my permission. Individual sections may have additional
restrictions. In no case should my name, the revision date,
or this paragraph be removed.
- Robert F. Heeter
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*** B. Contents (Section Listing) of the Conventional Fusion FAQ
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What This FAQ Discusses
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(Each of these sections is posted periodically on sci.physics.fusion.
Section 0.1 is posted biweekly, the other parts are posted quarterly.
Each listed part is posted as a separate file.)
Section 0 - Introduction
Part 1/3 - Title Page
Table of Contents
How to Find the FAQ
Current Status of the FAQ project
Part 2/3 - Detailed Outline with List of Questions
Part 3/3 - Revision History
Section 1 - Fusion as a Physical Phenomenon
Section 2 - Fusion as an Energy Source
Part 1/5 - Technical Characteristics
Part 2/5 - Environmental Characteristics
Part 3/5 - Safety Characteristics
Part 4/5 - Economic Characteristics
Part 5/5 - Fusion for Space-Based Power
Section 3 - Fusion as a Scientific Research Program
Part 1/3 - Chronology of Events and Ideas
Part 2/3 - Major Institutes and Policy Actors
Part 3/3 - History of Achievements and Funding
Section 4 - Methods of Containment / Approaches to Fusion
Part 1/2 - Toroidal Magnetic Confinement Approaches
Part 2/2 - Other Approaches (ICF, muon-catalyzed, etc.)
Section 5 - Status of and Plans for Present Devices
Section 6 - Recent Results
Section 7 - Educational Opportunities
Section 8 - Internet Resources
Section 9 - Future Plans
Section 10 - Annotated Bibliography / Reading List
Section 11 - Citations and Acknowledgements
Glossary of Frequently Used Terms (FUT) in Plasma Physics & Fusion:
Part 0/26 - Intro
Part 1/26 - A
Part 2/26 - B
[ ... ]
Part 26/26 - Z
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*** C. How to find the Conventional Fusion FAQ on the 'Net:
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*****************************************************************
### The FAQ about the FAQ:
### How can I obtain a copy of a part of the Fusion FAQ?
*****************************************************************
* 0) Quick Methods (for Experienced Net Users)
(A) World-Wide Web: http://lyman.pppl.gov/~rfheeter/fusion-faq.html
(B) FTP: rtfm.mit.edu in /pub/usenet-by-group/sci.answers/fusion-faq
* 1) Obtaining the Fusion FAQ from Newsgroups
Those of you reading this on news.answers, sci.answers,
sci.energy, sci.physics, or sci.environment will be able to
find the numerous sections of the full FAQ by reading
sci.physics.fusion periodically. (Please note that not
all sections are completed yet.) Because the FAQ is quite
large, most sections are posted only every three months, to avoid
unnecessary consumption of bandwidth.
All sections of the FAQ which are ready for "official"
distribution are posted to sci.physics.fusion, sci.answers,
and news.answers, so you can get them from these groups by
waiting long enough.
* 2) World-Wide-Web (Mosaic, Netscape, Lynx, etc.):
Several Web versions now exist.
The "official" one is currently at
We hope to have a version on the actual PPPL Web server
() soon.
There are other sites which have made "unofficial" Web versions
from the newsgroup postings. I haven't hunted all of these down
yet, but I know a major one is at this address:
Note that the "official" one will include a number of features
which cannot be found on the "unofficial" ones created by
automated software from the newsgroup postings. In particular
we hope to have links through the outline directly to questions,
and between vocabulary words and their entries in the Glossary,
so that readers unfamiliar with the terminology can get help fast.
(Special acknowledgements to John Wright at PPPL, who is handling
much of the WWW development.)
* 3) FAQ Archives at FTP Sites (Anonymous FTP) - Intro
All completed sections can also be obtained by anonymous FTP
from various FAQ archive sites, such as rtfm.mit.edu. The
address for this archive is:
Please note that sections which are listed above as having
multiple parts (such as the glossary, and section 2) are
stored in subdirectories, where each part has its own
filename; e.g., /fusion-faq/glossary/part0-intro.
Please note also that there are other locations in the rtfm
filespace where fusion FAQ files are stored, but the reference
given above is the easiest to use.
There are a large number of additional FAQ archive sites,
many of which carry the fusion FAQ. These are listed below.
* 4) Additional FAQ archives worldwide (partial list)
There are other FAQ archive sites around the world
which one can try if rtfm is busy; a list is appended
at the bottom of this file.
* 5) Mail Server
If you do not have direct access by WWW or FTP, the
rtfm.mit.edu site supports "ftp by mail": send a message
to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the following 3 lines
in it (cut-and-paste if you like):
send usenet-by-group/sci.answers/fusion-faq/section0-intro/part1-overview
send usenet-by-group/sci.answers/fusion-faq/section0-intro/part2-outline
quit
The mail server will send these two introductory
files to you. You can then use the outline (part2)
to determine which files you want. You can receive
any or all of the remaining files by sending another
message with the same general format, if you substitute
the file archive names you wish to receive, in place of the
part "fusion-faq/section0-intro/part1-overview", etc. used above.
* 6) Additional Note / Disclaimer:
Not all sections of the FAQ have been written
yet, nor have they all been "officially" posted.
Thus, you may not find what you're looking for right away.
Sections which are still being drafted are only
posted to sci.physics.fusion. If there's a section
you can't find, send me email and I'll let you know
what's up with it.
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*** D. Status of the Conventional Fusion FAQ Project
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* 1) Written FAQ Sections:
Most sections have been at least drafted, but many sections are still
being written. Sections 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, and 9
remain to be completed.
Those sections which have been written could use revising and improving.
I am trying to obtain more information, especially on devices and
confinement approaches; I'm also looking for more information on
international fusion research, especially in Japan & Russia.
*** I'd love any help you might be able to provide!! ***
* 2) Building a Web Version
A "primitive" version (which has all the posted data, but isn't
especially aesthetic) exists now. Would like to add graphics and
cross-references to the Glossary, between FAQ sections, and
to other internet resources (like laboratory Web pages).
* 3) Nuts & Bolts -
I'm looking for ways to enhance the distribution of the FAQ, and
to get additional volunteer help for maintenance and updates.
We are in the process of switching to automated posting via the
rtfm.mit.edu faq posting daemon.
* 4) Status of the Glossary:
# Contains roughly 1000 entries, including acronyms, math terms, jargon, etc.
# Just finished incorporating terms from the "Glossary of Fusion Energy"
published in 1985 by the Dept. of Energy's Office of Scientific and
Technical Information.
# Also working to improve technical quality of entries (more formal.)
# World Wide Web version exists, hope to cross-reference to FAQ.
# Hope to have the Glossary "officially" added to PPPL Web pages.
# Hope to distribute to students, policymakers, journalists,
scientists, i.e., to anyone who needs a quick reference to figure out
what we're really trying to say, or to decipher all the "alphabet
soup." Scientists need to remember that not everyone knows those
"trivial" words we use every day. The glossary and FAQ should be
useful in preparing for talks to lay audiences. Students will
also find it useful to be able to look up unfamiliar technical jargon.
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*** E. Appendix: List of Additional FAQ Archive Sites Worldwide
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(The following information was excerpted from the "Introduction to
the *.answers newsgroups" posting on news.answers, from Sept. 9, 1994.)
Other news.answers/FAQ archives (which carry some or all of the FAQs
in the rtfm.mit.edu archive), sorted by country, are:
[ Note that the connection type is on the left. I can't vouch
for the fusion FAQ being on all of these, but it should be
on some. - Bob Heeter ]
Belgium
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gopher cc1.kuleuven.ac.be port 70
anonymous FTP cc1.kuleuven.ac.be:/anonymous.202
mail-server listserv@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be get avail faqs
Canada
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gopher jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca port 70
Finland
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anonymous ftp ftp.funet.fi/pub/doc/rtfm
France
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anonymous FTP grasp1.insa-lyon.fr:/pub/faq
grasp1.insa-lyon.fr:/pub/faq-by-newsgroup
gopher gopher.insa-lyon.fr, port 70
mail server listserver@grasp1.univ-lyon1.fr
Germany
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anonymous ftp ftp.Germany.EU.net:/pub/newsarchive/news.answers
ftp.informatik.uni-muenchen.de:/pub/comp/usenet/news.answers
ftp.uni-paderborn.de:/doc/FAQ
ftp.saar.de:/pub/usenet/news.answers (local access only)
gopher gopher.Germany.EU.net, port 70.
gopher.uni-paderborn.de
mail server archive-server@Germany.EU.net
ftp-mailer@informatik.tu-muenchen.de
ftp-mail@uni-paderborn.de
World Wide Web http://www.Germany.EU.net:80/
FSP ftp.Germany.EU.net, port 2001
gopher index gopher://gopher.Germany.EU.net:70/1.archive
gopher://gopher.uni-paderborn.de:70/0/Service/FTP
Korea
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anonymous ftp hwarang.postech.ac.kr:/pub/usenet/news.answers
Mexico
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anonymous ftp mtecv2.mty.itesm.mx:/pub/usenet/news.answers
The Netherlands
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anonymous ftp ftp.cs.ruu.nl:/pub/NEWS.ANSWERS
gopher gopher.win.tue.nl, port 70
mail server mail-server@cs.ruu.nl
Sweden
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anonymous ftp ftp.sunet.se:/pub/usenet
Switzerland
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anonymous ftp ftp.switch.ch:/info_service/usenet/periodic-postings
anonymous UUCP chx400:ftp/info_service/Usenet/periodic-postings
mail server archiver-server@nic.switch.ch
telnet nic.switch.ch, log in as "info"
Taiwan
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anonymous ftp ftp.edu.tw:/USENET/FAQ
mail server ftpmail@ftp.edu.tw
United Kingdon
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anonymous ftp src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/usenet/news-faqs/
FSP src.doc.ic.ac.uk port 21
gopher src.doc.ic.ac.uk port 70.
mail server ftpmail@doc.ic.ac.uk
telnet src.doc.ic.ac.uk login as sources
World Wide Web http://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/news-faqs/
United States
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anonymous ftp ftp.uu.net:/usenet
World Wide Web http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu:80/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html
