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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.
P. K. Sharma
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 65 | Number 1 | January 2014 | Pages 103-119
Lecture | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-639
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system, which is a mature, robust, and reliable heating and current drive system in a large number of tokamaks, is designed, developed, and being commissioned on the steady-state superconducting tokamak (SST-1) for driving 220 kA of plasma current, noninductively, for 1000 s, at nominal plasma parameters (plasma density ∼2×1019 m−3, temperature ∼1 keV, toroidal magnetic field ∼3 T), using four 3.7-GHz, 500-kW continuous wave (cw) klystrons. It employs a conventional grill antenna to launch toroidal lower hybrid waves asymmetrically, with a parallel refractive index N∥ of approximately 2.25 at 90-deg relative phasing of adjacent channels. The system is very complex and requires interfacing with several subsystems such as high-power radio-frequency systems, high-voltage power supply systems, auxiliary power supply systems, efficient thermal management systems, complex networks of transmission line systems, and robust and reliable data acquisition and control systems. With the SST-1 LHCD system as a case study, this lecture gives a broad overview of the physics and design layout of LHCD systems. It addresses cutting-edge technologies employed in realizing the system and gives the present status and advances made for cw operation. The challenges and opportunities are also highlighted.