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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 R. Peterson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 686-691
Inertial Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29424
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The design of target chambers for the Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF) requires a good understanding of the pressure loadings experienced by the chamber walls. Beam transport, diagnostics, and LMF applications place severe constraints on the chamber fill gas; in current light ion beam concepts only 1.5 torr-meters of helium are between the target and the closest target chamber structures. Simulations of the unavoidable vaporization of the first wall have been performed with the CONRAD computer code for a light ion beam LMF concept. Results show that the peak pressure on the wall is a function of the target x-ray power density on the wall, while the impulse on the wall is a function of x-ray fluence.