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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.
T. Endo, K. Shibata, Y. Fujima, T. Norimatsu
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 38 | Number 1 | July 2000 | Pages 34-41
Technical Paper | Thirteenth Target Fabrication Specialists’ Meeting | doi.org/10.13182/FST00-A36112
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We carried out experiments on cooling-induced deformation (CID) of inertial-fusion fuel capsules. Polystyrene spherical shells were used as test samples. In the experiments, approximately 90 shells were cooled using liquid nitrogen and observed with an optical microscope. Pictures of each shell were recorded at 0°C and −190°C, and they were compared with each other. About a half of the tested shells showed CID, where the maximum deformation was in the order of 1% of the shell radius. Although the polystyrene shells were fabricated by a density-matched emulsion method using both hand-shaken microencapsulation and triple-orifice droplet-generator techniques, we recognized no significant difference in deformation characteristics between these two techniques. The observed CID showed poor reproducibility. We tried annealing in order to prevent CID, but no apparent improvement was recognized.