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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.
J. M. García-Regaña, F. Castejón, A. Cappa
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 55 | Number 2 | February 2009 | Pages 219-226
Technical Paper | Electron Cyclotron Emission and Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A4074
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electron Bernstein waves (EBWs) have been confirmed as a suitable choice for plasma heating and current drive generation (electron Bernstein current drive) at densities where the O and X modes find cutoff values. In the present work, an estimation of the efficiency function of current generated for a relativistic distribution function is presented. The arbitrary large values of the refractive index, due to the EBW propagation properties, have also made necessary the expansion of our calculation up to any Larmor radius order. Particle trapping has been included considering the Okhawa effect, and the fractions of power absorbed by trapped and circulating particles separately have been estimated. Future work toward implementation of this method to the ray-tracing code used for realistic TJ-II ray trajectories (TRUBA) is also discussed.