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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.
Alexander A. Akunets, Valerie M. Dorogotovtsev, Yuriy A. Merkuliev, Sergey A. Startsev, Robert Cook
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 28 | Number 5 | December 1995 | Pages 1781-1786
Technical Paper | Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets | doi.org/10.13182/FST95-A30412
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Plastic microshells with diameters of up to 1.5 mm have been produced at the Lebedev Physical Institute from solid polymer pellets using heated droptower techniques. We review here the basic processing techniques, outline our theoretical understanding of the process, and present detailed surface finish characterization of several shells. Based on limited data we find that the amplitudes of the surface finish modes are larger than those observed on the smaller (0.5 mm) solution droptower shells at the same mode number. However if the comparison is made at the same wavelength rather than mode number the shells show similar amplitude to the solution droptower shells. This result suggests that surface roughness at a given mode may scale with shell diameter.