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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
N. Vetcha, S. Smolentsev, M. Abdou
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 518-522
Blanket Design and Experiments | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST60-518
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An approach developed in earlier work to study the hydrodynamic stability of the buoyancy assisted flow in DCLL blanket based on the solution of the Orr-Sommefeld equation for MHD flows is used here to address the stability of the buoyancy-opposed (downward) flows in the DCLL blanket conditions. The present analysis predicts that downward flows in DCLL blanket conditions will likely be hydrodynamically unstable and eventually turbulent due to the development of either inflectional instability or boundary layer instability.