Fusion research at USP, UFRGS and UNICAMP

1974 marks the maturation and formalization of research in nuclear fusion and plasma physics in Brazil. Driven by the need to find alternative and inexhaustible energy sources, the country saw the emergence of excellent research groups at universities such as USP, UNICAMP and UFRGS, which would investigate the technology needed to bring "the energy of the stars" into Brazilian laboratories.

The setting was one of global energy uncertainty caused by the 1973 Oil Crisis, which forced industrialized and developing nations alike to accelerate energy autonomy programs.

While the Brazilian government focused on fission energy — with the purchase of Angra 1 and the Plan 90 of 1974 —, the national scientific community, which had been studying plasma physics in isolation since the 1950s, seized the moment to consolidate research groups dedicated to controlled thermonuclear fusion.

1. Emerging groups (1970s)
   Consolidation of research groups at USP, UNICAMP, UFRGS, and also ITA and INPE, dedicated to the study of plasma confinement.
2. Academic shift
   Brazilian research moved from being purely theoretical to focusing on building its own experimental equipment.
3. Networking
   Scientists started an exchange of knowledge that would lead to landmark events such as the Summer School on Plasma Physics.

The effort begun in 1974 allowed USP to operate the TBR-1 in 1980 — the first tokamak built in Latin America. This academic pioneering kept Brazil's fusion programs active for decades, leading to modern scientific consortia building spherical machines — such as ETE at INPE — and keeping the country among the nations pursuing fusion as the "energy of the future".