Thermonuclear future of the Tokamak magnetic confinement device

A possible extrapolation of the Tokamak principle towards a thermonuclear reactor raises many problems among which stress is laid on the minimum values required for the equilibrium and stability parameters. Some technological requirements are confronted with the most recent theoretical developments, revealing the existence of a small domain inside of which both points of view may be, perhaps, simultaneously satisfied.

The operation of the reactor would have to be discontinuous but each cycle might conceivably include a plateau lasting about 10³ s. A major difficulty arises from the necessity to develop a heating method with an efficiency amounting to at least a few 10⁻³, keeping in mind other requirements about the uneasy reactor technology.