Derek Robinson. 27 May 1941 — 2 December 2002

Derek Robinson was a leading UK plasma physicist of his generation. After an early success in measuring the electron temperature in the ZETA plasma through the Thomson scattering of laser light, he became a key member of the team from Culham Laboratory sent to Moscow in 1968 to verify the high temperatures claimed by the Russians for their T3 tokamak. On returning to Culham his research activities continued to broaden and he became an acknowledged expert on a range of fusion devices. His management responsibilities grew in parallel and eventually he became Director of Culham. With his strong support, Culham explored the novel spherical tokamak devices START and MAST, and he promoted this concept as an alternative route to the conventional tokamak for developing fusion power. His energetic leadership and his mastery of theory, experiment and fusion politics brought fusion power nearer to reality. His vision of the ‘way forward’ for the international fusion programme remains with us after his life was so sadly cut short by the unexpected development of lung cancer in a non-smoker.

[1]  C. Gimblett,et al.  Effects of a resistive wall on magnetohydrodynamic instabilities , 1989 .

[2]  D. Robinson,et al.  Observations of large-amplitude helical kink instabilities and field reversal in a fast pinch experiment (HBTX-1) , 1978 .

[3]  A. Howling,et al.  Coherent mode activity in the edge of TOSCA Tokamak , 1988 .

[4]  Lloyd,et al.  Feedback stabilization of disruption precursors in a tokamak. , 1990, Physical review letters.

[5]  D. Robinson,et al.  Measurement of the Electron Temperature by Thomson Scattering in Tokamak T3 , 1969, Nature.

[6]  M. Cox,et al.  Thermal wave studies of electron transport using modulated ECRH , 1993 .

[7]  D. Robinson.  Two‐Dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence , 1968 .

[8]  M. G. Rusbridge,et al.  Turbulent density fluctuations in zeta , 1969 .

[9]  D. Robinson,et al.  Magnetic islands and disruptions in the TOSCA tokamak , 1979 .

[10]  D. Robinson,et al.  Major Disruptions in the TOSCA Tokamak , 1980 .

[11]  Timothy C. Hender,et al.  The non-linear ‘g’-mode in the reverse-field pinch , 1981 .

[12]  J. Ferreira,et al.  Effect of resonant magnetic perturbations on COMPASS-C tokamak discharges , 1992 .

[13]  D. Robinson.  High-β diffuse pinch configurations , 1971 .

[14]  D. Robinson.  Ten years of results from the TOSCA device , 1985 .

[16]  O. Sauter,et al.  Overview of recent experimental results on MAST , 2003 .

[17]  D. C. Robinson,et al.  An experimental study of tokamak plasmas with vertically elongated cross-sections , 1978 .

[18]  M. W. Alcock,et al.  ECRH current drive studies in the CLEO tokamak , 1988 .

[19]  T. Todd,et al.  Comparison of Confinement in Different Toroidal Configurations , 1982 .

[20]  D. Robinson.  Tearing-mode-stable diffuse-pinch configurations , 1978 .

[21]  M. G. Rusbridge,et al.  The partition of energy in a turbulent plasma , 1968 .

[22]  M. Gryaznevich,et al.  Achievement of Record β in the START Spherical Tokamak , 1998 .

[23]  D. Robinson,et al.  Sawtooth oscillations in a small tokamak , 1979 .