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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.
Roger Raman, John C. Thomas, David Q. Hwang, Garrard D. Conway, Francois Martin, Akira Hirose, Paul Gierszewski, Réal Décoste
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 24 | Number 3 | November 1993 | Pages 239-250
Technical Paper | Fusion Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/FST93-A30198
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Reactor particle fueling is one of the issues that remain to be resolved in the development of a tokamak fusion reactor. One of the most promising concepts of reactor fueling is the injection of high-speed compact toroids (CTs). Compact toroid formation and acceleration at the Ring Accelerator Experiment (RACE) device at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has shown that CT plasmoid velocities sufficient for center fueling fusion reactors can be achieved by using coaxial accelerators. The Compact Toroid Fueler (CTF) will inject high-speed, dense spheromak plasmoids into the Tokamak de Varennes (TdeV) to examine the feasibility of this approach as a fueler for future reactors. Here, a conceptual design study of the particle fueler for TdeV is presented. The issues of CTF design that are considered are formation and relaxation of an axisymmetric CT, optimization of accelerator performance to improve injector electrical efficiency, separation of formation and acceleration phases to improve injector reproducibility, minimization of entrained impurities in the CT, and minimization of neutral gas load to the tokamak following CT fueling. The CTF injector will test theories on CT/tokamak interaction related to reactor fueling. Among the eventual physics questions addressed are the multiple-pulse requirements for future injectors, the bootstrap current enhancement factor, CT fuel confinement times, impurity effects, plasma heating, injector electrical efficiency, and the effect of gas load on the tokamak following CT injection.