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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.
D.R. Cohn, L. Bromberg, R.J. Leclaire, R.E. Potok, D.L. Jassby
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | November 1986 | Pages 1111-1116
Nuclear Technology Experiments and Facilities | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24881
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We discuss a super high field mode of tokamak operation that uses ohmic heating or near ohmic heating to ignition. This approach could also provide high values of nτe, increasing the margin of ignition in deuterium-tritium plasmas, and opening up the possibility of some type of advanced fuel operation. D-He3 operation might be possible if high enough values of β (β ≃ .09) can be obtained. The super high field mode of operation uses very high values of B2a, where B is the magnetic field and o is the minor radius (B2a > 100 T2m). We analyze copper magnet devices with major radii from 1.7 to 3.0 meters. Minimizing or eliminating the need for auxiliary heating has the potential advantages of reducing uncertainty in extrapolating the energy confinement time of current tokamak devices, and reducing engineering problems associated with large auxiliary heating requirements. It may be possible to heat relatively short pulse, inertially cooled tokamaks to ignition with ohmic power alone. However, there may be advantages in using a very small amount of auxiliary power (less than the ohmic heating power) to boost the ohmic heating and provide a faster start-up, especially in relatively compact devices.