ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
T. Loarer, Tore Supra Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 3 | October 2009 | Pages 1300-1317
Technical Papers | Tore Supra Special Issue | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A9179
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tore Supra is a superconducting limiter tokamak designed for long and high-power discharges. In its initial phase, the plasma density control was handled by a set of seven modular limiters (total area [approximately]1.5 m2) equipped with pumps. An inner wall ([approximately]10 m2), covered with actively cooled carbon tiles, was used to handle high-power discharges. An ergodic divertor (ED), composed of six modules, was installed on the low-field side to create a stochastic edge layer for enhancing the edge radiation; all the modules were equipped with neutralizer plates and a pumping system. The performances, in terms of pumping capabilities and density control, are reported for the modular pump limiters and the ED modules, equipped with neutralizer plates for particle collection. Throat and vented geometries, respectively collecting ions and neutrals, were tested for the modular limiters and the ED. After 12 years of operation, a major upgrade (Composants Internes et Limiteur project) resulted in the replacement of all these plasma-facing components by a flat toroidal pump limiter (total area [approximately]7.6 m2) actively cooled and located at the bottom of the machine. Long discharges (6 min) with high energy input (>1.0 GJ) have been performed repetitively, in steady-state conditions.