The laboratory issued the following statement:

"It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Dr R J (Roy) Bickerton died suddenly at the age of 82 at his home in Cumnor on Friday 6 November. After a D Phil at the Clarendon Laboratory, Roy joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell Laboratory, where he worked with the ZETA team. In 1962 he made the move to the new Culham Laboratory, where in 1968 he was appointed Head of Experimental Division A and a member of the Culham Laboratory Management Committee. After the inauguration of JET in 1979 Roy was appointed its Scientific Director in 1980 and then Deputy Director in 1985, a post he held until his retirement in November 1988. A few years were then spent at the Fusion Centre in Austin, Texas. Roy was a regular visitor to Culham seminars in his retirement. He will be missed not only by his friends but by the international fusion community."

Condolences for transmittal to the family can be sent to Martin O'Brien Fusion Programme Manager Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, martin.obrien@ccfe.ac.uk