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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Surplus plutonium for power reactor fuel: What’s on offer
The Department of Energy has a plan for private companies to “dispose of surplus plutonium”—about 19.7 metric tons in both oxide and metal forms—by “making the materials available for advanced nuclear technologies.” A Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program request for applications (RFA) issued October 21 describes the plutonium on offer, and the “thresholds” prospective applicants must meet.
T. Urano, T. Watanabe, T. Mitsui, T. Takahashi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 63 | Number 1 | May 2013 | Pages 383-385
doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A16962
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to generate a toroidal field in field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma, a poloidal current drive by axial neutral beam injection (NBI) is investigated analytically and numerically. Species of neutral beam particle are hydrogen and helium. Feasibility for two types of injection geometry, injection along the geometric axis and to near the separatrix, is tested. Since all beam ions are lost directly through the device end, more than 12-kA beam current is needed to improve electron confinement near the separatrix. On the other hand, it is found that low energy (about 200 eV) beam ions can be confined for injection to near the separatrix. Present calculation of the beam ion orbit shows possibility of poloidal current drive and toroidal field generation by axial NBI into an FRC plasma.