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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.
Robert G. Mills
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 9 | Number 3 | May 1986 | Pages 408-421
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24729
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A reactor is proposed in which the principal role of the magnetic field is to reduce the thermal conductivity. A purely toroidal magnetic field confines a plasma whose pressure is almost constant. The plasma is limited in height by two planar electrodes. The density rises as the temperature falls toward the material boundaries to maintain essentially isobaric conditions. Fueling the reactor is a simple by-product of the drift motion of the ions through the reactor, the confinement time being determined by the residence time of transport rather than by diffusion. As in many reactor schemes, the size is large, but not unreasonable. There are unsolved problems requiring research, but these seem addressable with modest temperature plasmas.