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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.
Masami Ohnishi, Hodaka Osawa, Kiyoshi Yoshikawa, Kai Masuda, Yasushi Yamamoto
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 3 | May 2001 | Pages 1211-1216
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A175
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A particle-in-cell calculation code was made to simulate the operation of an inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion device. The computation includes the effects of ionization by electron impact. Several techniques to save computational time are introduced in this program code. One of them is time-dependent fine space meshes used in the regions where the particles concentrate. Several superparticles that have similar radial position as well as similar energy are merged, while one superparticle is divided into several particles with a somewhat different velocity when the total number of superparticles decreases. The methods enable more precise determination of the characteristics of an IEC device in a shorter time than by previous methods.