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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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Nuclear News 40 Under 40 discuss the future of nuclear
Seven members of the inaugural Nuclear News 40 Under 40 came together on March 4 to discuss the current state of nuclear energy and what the future might hold for science, industry, and the public in terms of nuclear development.
To hear more insights from this talented group of young professionals, watch the “40 Under 40 Roundtable: Perspectives from Nuclear’s Rising Stars” on the ANS website.
Richard F. Post
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 57 | Number 4 | May 2010 | Pages 335-342
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST10-A9495
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper, part of a continuing study of means for the stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic interchange modes in axisymmetric mirror-based plasma confinement systems, represents a preliminary look at a technique that would employ a train of plasma pressure pulses produced by electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) to accomplish the stabilization. The use of sequentially pulsed ECRH rather than continuous-wave ECRH facilitates the localization of the heated-electron plasma pulses in regions of the magnetic field with positive field-line curvature, e.g., in the "expander" region of the mirror magnetic field, outside the outermost mirror. The technique proposed relies on the time-averaged effect of plasma pressure pulses generated in regions of positive field-line curvature to overcome the destabilizing effect of plasma pressure in regions of negative field-line curvature within the confinement region. The plasma pulses, when produced in regions of the confining field having a negative gradient, create transient ambipolar electric potentials, an effect studied in 1964 in the PLEIADE experiment in France. These electric fields preserve the localization of the hot-electron plasma pulse for times determined by ion inertia. It may be possible to use this aspect of pulsed ECRH not only to stabilize the plasma but also to plug mirror losses in a manner similar to that employed in the tandem mirror.