The Nation - News from Oct. 26, 1987

Scientists will need higher research budgets and another 30 years to determine whether nuclear fusion, the process that powers the sun, can fulfill its bright promise as a safe and virtually unlimited source of energy, a major congressional study said. The Office of Technology Assessment, in a comprehensive review of the nation’s once-secret fusion research program, concluded that the 30-year timetable will require either “substantial” increases in research funding, now about $320 million per year, or “moderate” increases coupled with better collaboration with fusion programs in Europe, the Soviet Union and Japan.