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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Nuclear Dirigo
On April 22, 1959, Rear Admiral George J. King, superintendent of the Maine Maritime Academy, announced that following the completion of the 1960 training cruise, cadets would begin the study of nuclear engineering. Courses at that time included radiation physics, reactor control and instrumentation, reactor theory and engineering, thermodynamics, shielding, core design, reactor maintenance, and nuclear aspects.
U. Shumlak, E. T. Meier, B. J. Levitt
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 80 | Number 1 | January 2024 | Pages 1-16
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2198049
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Fusion gain and triple product are derived for the sheared-flow-stabilized (SFS) Z pinch by including the input power associated with driving the plasma flow and the additional advective loss of thermal energy. Plasma impurities contribute to radiative power losses and to thermal power losses by increasing the electron population. The presence of impurities increases the required plasma parameters, characterized by the triple product, to achieve fusion gain. The analysis is applied to deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion, though the methodology can be extended to other reactions. Since D-T fusion produces an alpha particle, the possibility exists of magnetically confining the alpha with sufficiently high magnetic fields, which are self-generated by the plasma pinch current. Confined alpha particles can heat the D-T fusion fuel, reduce the needed input power, and thereby amplify the fusion gain. However, ignition () does not occur since the axial plasma flow must be externally driven. The impacts of alpha heating and impurity losses are considered on the fusion performance of the SFS Z pinch. Requirements, assumptions, and limitations are described that would justify a determination of “D-T equivalent conditions” in a D-D plasma. A minimum set of experimental measurements of plasma parameters is specified that can be compared to a plasma parameter map to facilitate a “” claim, where is defined by instantaneous values of fusion power and input power. Corroborating measurements are also discussed that would further support extrapolation of plasma and fusion performance to D-T operation.