He was born in Japan in 1940 and lived there until 1965 when he came to the USA to study at MIT, where he earned his doctorate degree in Nuclear Engineering. He joined the US fusion effort at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he worked on a series of notable fusion experiments of the time, including ISX-A, ISX-B and the Advanced Tokamak. During his career at ORNL for over 40 years, he was deeply involved in joint General Atomics-ORNL tokamak experiments such as the DIII-D facility, In 2007, for example, he was a recipient of the inaugural Nuclear Fusion Award of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with his co-authors, including Mickey Wade and lead author T. C. Luce.

Dr. Wade, who is now ORNL Associate Lab Director, says of Dr. Murikami "He was an exceptional researcher and an exceptional person, and he inspired the best in all who knew him.

Dr. Masanori joined Fusion Power Associates (FPA) as an Individual Affiliate shortly after its 1979 founding and maintained his support for FPA to the present day.

Dr. Wade states "Masanori had a substantial and long-lasting impact on our field. He was a fellow of the American Physical Society and authored and/or refereed more than 1,000 publications. He contributed many seminal ideas to the field of plasma physics and plasma confinement, and inspired many students to pursue careers in fusion research and exercised genuine kindness to those he mentored."

Masanori is survived my his wife Keiko, 3 children and 6 grandchildren. His obituary ran in the OakRidger. Per his family's wishes, in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the John Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute or to the MIT Lab for Nuclear Science Discretionary Fund