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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.
A. D. Beklemishev, D. I. Skovorodin, K. V. Zaytsev
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 1 | July 2015 | Pages 21-27
Technical Paper | Open Magnetic Systems 2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-883
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In recent experiments on Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT), as well as in earlier experiments on the GOL-3 device, a new and interesting class of oscillations was observed. Its mode structure and frequency resemble that of a sound wave trapped in the mirror cell as a resonator. Such modes can strongly interact with the bounce motion of ions and thus affect the axial confinement in mirror traps. The modes are probably similar to the global acoustic modes (GAMs) in tokamaks. However, there are significant difficulties in reconciling the existence of such modes with conventional theory of plasma waves. In both GOL-3 and GDT in relevant regimes the electron temperature is far below the theoretical limit for existence (let alone weak Landau damping) of ion-sound waves in homogeneous plasma. We explore different models of inhomogeneous anisotropic non-Maxwellian plasma of a mirror trap in search for possible explanations of the observed phenomena.