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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.
L. R. Baylor, C. C. Barbier, J. R. Carmichael, S. K. Combs, M. N. Ericson, N. D. Bull Ezell, P. W. Fisher, M. S. Lyttle, S. J. Meitner, D. A. Rasmussen, S. F. Smith, J. B. Wilgen, S. Maruyama, G. Kiss
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 2 | September 2015 | Pages 211-215
Technical Paper | Proceedings of TOFE-2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-926
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A disruption mitigation system (DMS) is under design for ITER to inject sufficient material deeply into the plasma for rapid plasma thermal shutdown and collisional suppression of any resulting runaway electrons. Progress on the development and design of both a shattered pellet injector (SPI) that produces large solid cryogenic pellets to provide reliable deep penetration of material and a fast opening high flow rate gas valve for massive gas injection (MGI) is presented. Cryogenic pellets of deuterium and neon up to 25 mm in size have been formed and accelerated with a prototype injector and a full scale prototype MGI valve is now in testing. Implications of the design with respect to response time and reliability at the proposed injector locations on ITER are discussed.