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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.
A. V. Anikeev et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 1 | January 2005 | Pages 92-95
Technical Paper | Open Magnetic Systems for Plasma Confinement | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A614
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the gas dynamic trap experiment with 17 keV and 4.5 MW deuterium neutral beam injection the spatial profile of fast ion density has been studied by different methods: MSE spectroscopy, active charge-exchange diagnostic and measurement of DD fusion product fluxes. The characteristic radius of fast ion density profile was found to be about 7 cm at 1/e level mapped onto the GDT midplane, that is close to gyroradius of 10 keV deuteron and less than the estimated region occupied by the captured ions(~15 cm). The analysis of energy balance shows that discrepancy between measured and simulated values (~1.5 times) cannot be explained by enhanced fast ions loses. Simplified theory of fast ion density spatial profiles formation shows that energetically profitable configuration has narrow radial profile. Physical mechanisms of density profile formation are also described.