After 1958, when fusion research was declassified around the world, the project was reorganized as a separate division within the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and lost its codename.
He noted that funding for the wartime Hood Building was being dropped and moved to the new program, so they were "robbing Hood to pay Friar Tuck", punning on the name of the British physicist and fusion researcher James L. Tuck and the popular phrase "to rob Peter to pay Paul".
[1] Lewis Strauss strongly supported keeping the program secret until pressure from the United Kingdom led to a declassification effort at the 2nd Atoms for Peace meeting in the fall of 1958.
By June, 1954 a preliminary study had been completed for a full scale "Model D" stellarator that would be over 500 feet (150 m) long and produce 5,000 MW of electricity at a capital cost of $209 per kilowatt.
[3] However, each concept encountered unanticipated problems, in the form of plasma instabilities that prevented the requisite temperatures and pressures from being achieved, and it eventually became clear that sustained hydrogen fusion would not be developed quickly.
The reasoning for an initial high classification status was that if the research into controlled fusion were to be successful then it would be a significant advantage in regards to military aspects.
Huge supporters of declassification of the program included the director of the Division of Research, Thomas Johnson, and a member of his staff, Amasa Bishop.
Some of their reasoning for wanting declassification was that the secrecy of the project could negatively impact their ability to enlist and employ experienced personnel to the program.
While the UK had been among the first to classify their program in the aftermath of the Klaus Fuchs affair in 1950, in the summer of 1957 they appeared to have successfully created fusion in their new ZETA and were clamoring to tell the press of their advances.
[10] In the early 1950s, Oak Ridge National Laboratory was composed of a small group of scientists that were mostly experienced with research in ion-source technology.
[11] Although there was already a main project (magnetic mirror) at the University of California, scientist W. R. Baker began research into the pinch effect at UCRL, Berkeley in 1952.