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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.
Kenichi Kurihara
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 548-552
Plasma Engineering (Poster Session) | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963670
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Current profile reproduction has been considered one of the key issues for control and evaluation of a tokamak plasma. Although magnetic measurements exterior to a plasma provide the most reliable data necessary for profile reproduction, the reproducibility from the magnetic measurements is unclear, and the regularization against numerical ill posedness improperly restricts reproducible profiles. To solve the inverse problem, at first, a new method is proposed for the current profile reproduction using a function expansion. Second, with the eigenfunctions in this method, a reproducibility check is analytically formulated. Finally, a new constraint for the plasma interior is derived from the MHD equilibrium equation. In the next step, this constraint must be included to enable reliable reproduction of current profile.