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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Securing the advanced reactor fleet
Physical protection accounts for a significant portion of a nuclear power plant’s operational costs. As the U.S. moves toward smaller and safer advanced reactors, similar protection strategies could prove cost prohibitive. For tomorrow’s small modular reactors and microreactors, security costs must remain appropriate to the size of the reactor for economical operation.
Franklin R. Chang Díaz
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 35 | Number 1 | January 1999 | Pages 87-93
Topical Review Lectures | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A11963830
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is described. As an open-ended, RF-heated, mirror-like plasma device, the system provides access to very high and variable plasma exhaust velocities of interest in high-speed interplanetary propulsion. The three-stage system is highly asymmetric and its value rests more in its capability as a power amplifier than as a plasma confinement device. During operation, a low-temperature, high-density plasma is generated in an injector which delivers it axially to a central heating stage. Once there, the flow is further heated to the desired conditions by ion cyclotron resonance techniques before exhausting it through a magnetic nozzle to provide modulated thrust. The system has been under study since 1980. At present, a multi-center theoretical and experimental program is under way, involving several research groups in the United States and which focuses on the development of the physics and engineering of these devices. This paper provides a status report of these activities, review the applicability of the technology, and examine new areas which should be addressed in the future.