Nuclear fusion is the power source of the Sun and the Stars
that combines lighter elements into heavier ones and releases a
tremendous amount of energy. Such a primordial fire, if successfully
kindled on earth in a controlled manner, could provide us with a
limitless supply of safe and clean energy. The quest for such a
Starfire – the holy grail of fusion research – has a long and
checkered history and continues to be one of the most exciting
scientific challenges of our time. In this talk I will start with a
basic introduction to fusion and then trace the various challenges and
scientific achievements of fusion research in the course of its
exciting history over the past fifty years. The primary focus will be
on the magnetic confinement approach to fusion where tokamaks (which
confine plasmas in a toroidal magnetic trap) have made the most
spectacular progress and lead the race towards providing a core for
the first demonstration fusion reactor. The largest tokamak in the
world called ITER – a collaborative effort of seven international
partners including India – is presently under construction in France
and promises to provide the crucial next step forward in paving the
way for a future reactor. However, the road ahead towards attaining
commercial fusion power is still beset with many technological
challenges and uncertainties arising from policy priorities of
different countries. I will discuss our own national roadmap for
fusion energy development that hopes to leverage our scientific
experience while adopting a strategy that aims to meet our energy
needs in a synergistic way with our nuclear power program.