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Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
D. T. Anderson, A. Abdou, A. F. Almagri, F. S. B. Anderson, J. M. Canik, W. Guttenfelder, C. Lechte, K. M. Likin, H. Lu, S. Oh, P. H. Probert, J. Radder, V. Sakaguchi, J. Schmitt, J. N. Talmadge, K. Zhai, D. L. Brower, C. Deng
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 50 | Number 2 | August 2006 | Pages 171-176
Technical Paper | Stellarators | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1232
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent results are summarized for the Helically Symmetric Experiment (HSX), which has the capability of running as a quasi-helically symmetric stellarator or as a more conventional, nonsymmetric stellarator. From X-ray measurements, we have demonstrated improved confinement of energetic particles. With central electron cyclotron heating, the density profiles in the quasi-symmetric configuration are peaked, in contrast to the hollow or flat profiles when the symmetry is broken. The difference in profiles is attributed to the lowering of the neoclassical thermodiffusive flux when the symmetry is present. The central electron temperature is ~200 eV higher for the quasi-symmetric configuration over the nonsymmetric case. The power deposition profiles are similar for the two cases, implying that the neoclassical electron thermal conductivity is reduced with quasi-symmetry. Related to the good confinement characteristics in the quasi-symmetric mode of operation, fluctuations in the density and magnetic field, consistent with that of a global Alfvén eigenmode (GAE), are observed. While the neoclassical characteristics of the quasi-symmetric and nonsymmetric configurations are very different, we have yet to find, under present operating conditions, any significant difference (other than the possible GAE mode) in turbulence characteristics or blob formation at the plasma edge.