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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Domenico Abate, Giuseppe Marchiori, Matteo Bonotto, Roberto Cavazzana
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 82 | Number 3 | April 2026 | Pages 717-729
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2521596
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The electromagnetic response of the toroidal conducting structures surrounding the plasma of the RFX-mod2 experiment is investigated during the fast termination of a high-current reversed field pinch plasma discharge. The plasma equilibrium is self-consistently computed for each time instant, including the effect of the eddy currents. These are evaluated in the passive conductors together with the related electromagnetic forces. The magnetic fields at the sensor positions are also evaluated.
A comparative analysis of the plasma dynamics between the RFX-mod2 and its predecessor, RFX-mod, is conducted by isolating the electromagnetic contributions from each component of the system, including the plasma, active coils, and eddy currents. During fast termination, eddy currents up to 6 kA are induced in the equipotential cage conductors of the RFX-mod2, leading to localized magnetic field perturbations at the inner radius of the machine.
The global electromagnetic response of the passive structures suggests that RFX-mod2 is likely to exhibit faster horizontal shift during fast termination compared to the previous configuration. These findings provide critical insights into the behavior of high-current plasma discharges and the influence of passive structures on macroscopic plasma stability.