Former Prime Minister of , Takeo Fukuda, receives the 1991 General Atomics -UCSD Scientific Achievement Award

November 8, 1991

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 8, 1991

GENERAL ATOMICS

Contacts: K. Watanabe - 03-3230-3857 or D. Fouquet - San Diego 619-455-2173

Takeo Fukuda, former , today received the 1991 General Atomics - University of California, San Diego Scientific Achievement Award in recognition of his leadership role in international cooperation for the development of controlled fusion energy.

The award was presented in Tokyo by General Alexander Haig, former U.S. Secretary of State and a member of the Board of Advisors of General Atomics of San Diego, California. Also in attendance were Neal Blue and Tihiro Ohkawa, Chairman and Vice Chairman of General Atomics.

The GA-UCSD Award honors an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of science and technology, to the formulation of scientific policy, and to international cooperation in science and technology development. The winner receives a $15,000 cash grant and selects a UCSD academic department to receive a $10,000 scholarship presented by General Atomics in his name.

Mr. Fukuda was honored for his role which led to the establishment of a major joint research effort between Japan and the United States in fusion energy. This effort is aimed at creating an inexhaustible energy supply from the fusing of atoms, the same process that fuels the sun and the stars.

In 1977, Mr. Fukuda proposed to then U.S. President Carter that Japan and the U.S. join together in a major cooperative program in fusion research. As a result of agreements announced in 1979 between the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and the U.S. Department of Energy, JAERI pledged over $70 million toward the Doublet III fusion research program at General Atomics.

Scientists from Japan became a part of the experimental team in San Diego, and the facility was subsequently upgraded to the present DIII-D device. The successful results of the program have been integrated into the designs for new experimental fusion reactors, including the international Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a joint project of the U.S., Japan, the European Community, and the Soviet Union.

"We are very proud of the contributions that the cooperation has made to international fusion research," General Haig said at the ceremony. "We are all grateful for the leadership that Mr. Fukuda demonstrated in causing high level international agreements to be made that precipitated the collaboration on our joint fusion program."

As President of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Mr. Fukuda was Prime Minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978, and he served in the Japanese House of Representatives from 1952 until his retirement in 1990. He also held positions as Finance Minister, Agricultural Minister, Economic Planning Minister, and Foreign Minister to the United States.

This is the third year the GA-UCSD Award has been given. The 1989 recipient was the late Dr. Frederic de Hoffmann, founder of General Atomics and for many years President of the Salk Institute. Last year's recipient was Prof. Dr. Rudolf Schulten, Professor for Reactor Technology at the Technical University in Aachen, Germany. The award recipients are selected by an independent Committee of Electors.