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November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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NNSA awards BWXT $1.5B defense fuels contract
The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has awarded BWX Technologies a contract valued at $1.5 billion to build a Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) pilot plant in Tennessee in support of the administration’s efforts to build out a domestic supply of unobligated enriched uranium for defense-related nuclear fuel.
E. J. Strait, E. D. Fredrickson, J.-M. Moret, M. Takechi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 53 | Number 2 | February 2008 | Pages 304-334
Technical Paper | Plasma Diagnostics for Magnetic Fusion Research | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1674
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Magnetic diagnostics are essential for the operation and understanding of a magnetic fusion device. Magnetic data are used in real time to measure and control the current, shape, and position of the discharge; the thermal energy of the plasma; the confining magnetic field; and the currents in the magnet coils. Equilibrium reconstructions based on magnetic data yield the magnetic geometry of the plasma, providing the coordinates for interpretation of all other diagnostic measurements. Magnetic measurements also provide input for the analysis and feedback control of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. This review focuses on the inductive loops and Hall effect probes that are used in nearly all present devices. We describe the principles of magnetic diagnostics and discuss issues related to their practical implementation. The interpretation of magnetic measurements for equilibrium reconstruction and for identification of MHD instabilities are summarized. Magnetic diagnostics based on inductive measurements are well understood in both implementation and interpretation and are expected to meet the needs of ITER. However, the challenges presented by future steady-state burning plasma experiments may require the development of other techniques. The prospects for addressing these challenges are reviewed, in particular, the status of possible approaches to long-pulse magnetic measurements.