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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.
T. J. Dolan, K. Yamazaki, A. Sagara
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 1 | January 2005 | Pages 60-72
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A599
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Physics-Engineering-Cost (PEC) code has been updated to include blanket-shield design data, a new cost structure, new unit costs, and improved algorithms. It is used here to estimate component masses and costs for heliotron reactors, which have continuous helical coils like the Large Helical Device.Relative to a "base case," we study how the cost of electricity (COE) varies with various parameters: central electron temperature, coil width/depth ratio, plasma-coil distance, plasma profile shapes, beta, maximum magnetic field, neutron wall load, net power output, plasma impurity content, plasma aspect ratio, and blanket lifetime.The COE decreases strongly with increasing beta but tends to level out at beta values >6%. At a fixed output power, higher beta values make the reactor smaller, which decreases the energy confinement time, making ignition more difficult. The resulting COE estimates are compared with that of the Stellarator Power Plant Study.