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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.
I. Funaki, Y. Kajimura, Y. Ashida, H. Nishida, Y. Oshio, I. Shinohara, H. Yamakawa
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 63 | Number 1 | May 2013 | Pages 168-171
doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A16897
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plasma equilibrium in an artificial magnetosphere in interplanetary space is proposed to apply the idea of plasma equilibrium for magnetic sail spacecraft, which obtains a thrust force based on the interaction between solar wind particles and an artificial magnetosphere made by electromagnets onboard spacecraft. It is numerically shown that when releasing a low-velocity plasma from a magnetic sail spacecraft, an equatorial ring-current is excited around the spacecraft, which makes a larger magnetosphere and correspondingly a larger thrust level becomes possible. In our preliminary MHD and particle simulations, it is shown that thrust by magnetic sail using plasma equilibrium is more than three times larger than that of pure magnetic sail without releasing plasma, and this result shows promising feature of on magnetic sail using plasma equilibrium.