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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.
S.K. Erents
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 6 | Number 2 | September 1984 | Pages 453-458
Technical Paper | Selected papers from the Ninth International Vacuum Congress and the Fifth International Conference on Solid Surfaces (Madrid, Spain, September 26-October 1, 1983) | doi.org/10.13182/FST84-A23221
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plasmas produced while using the MkII Bundle Divertor on DITE have been studied using a combined Langmuir/heat flux probe technique. Ion saturation currents and deposited powers to bolometers facing both the ion and electron drift directions have been measured. A substantial depression of the ion flux on the ion side is recorded, which has been explained by the shorter connection length to the divertor target plate. Radial profiles of electron temperature Te, ion temperature Ti, and local plasma density, ne have been calculated from the measurements. These are time resolved and have been studied both before and during neutral beam injection. E-folding lengths for deposited power of ∼ 1.0cm have been measured, but those for ion and electron temperature are much longer. Calculated values of Ti range from 50 to a few hundred eV, those for Te are an order of magnitude lower. An estimate of carbon limiter sputtering has been made which suggests that for the present discharge conditions (plasma current 150 kA, central density 1.5 – 3 × 1019 m−3), the sputtering rises with increasing density during neutral injection, although a fall in Ti is calculated.