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Speeding the development of fusion power to create unlimited energy on Earth
Can tokamak fusion facilities, the most widely used devices for harvesting on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars, be developed more quickly to produce safe, clean, and virtually limitless energy for generating electricity? Physicist Jon Menard of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has examined that question in a detailed look at the concept of a compact tokamak equipped with high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. Such magnets can produce higher magnetic fields – necessary to produce and sustain fusion reactions – than would otherwise be possible in a compact facility.
Menard first presented the paper [open, DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2017.0440] [DX], now published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, to a Royal Society workshop in London that explored accelerating the development of tokamak-produced fusion power with compact tokamaks. "This is the first paper that quantitatively documents how the new superconductors can interplay with the high pressure that compact tokamaks produce to influence how tokamaks are optimized in the future," Menard said. "What we tried to develop were some simple models that capture important aspects of an integrated design."
The findings are "very significant," said Steve Cowley, director of PPPL. Cowley noted that "Jon's arguments in this and the previous paper have been very influential in the recent National Academies of Sciences report," which calls for a U.S. program to develop a compact fusion pilot plant to generate electricity at the lowest possible cost. "Jon has really outlined the technical aspects for much smaller tokamaks using high-temperature magnets," Cowley said.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 25 2019, @07:18PM (4 children)
They are doing something, you just didn't read thoroughly enough. The possibility for "compact" designs actually affect the viability of the fusion reactors. This is NOT about you getting your own Mr. Fusion on the back of your Tesla.
"The bottom line, he said, is that the lower aspect ratio “is really worth investigating based on these results.” The potential benefits of lower ratios, he noted, include the production of fusion power density — the crucial output of fusion power per volume of plasma — that exceeds the output for conventional aspect ratios. “Fusion needs to become more attractive,” Menard said, “so it’s important to assess the benefits of lower aspect ratios and what the tradeoffs are.”"
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday March 25 2019, @08:06PM (1 child)
Your quoted section definitely gives a more concise reason as to why this proposal was significant. Wish that had been in TFS.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 25 2019, @10:50PM
It wasn't in TFS, but it was in TFA.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday March 25 2019, @08:29PM (1 child)
Compact designs also help with quicker iterations. I saw an interesting propaganda video on the skunkworks website that talked about it.
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/compact-fusion.html [lockheedmartin.com]
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday March 25 2019, @08:33PM
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=30569&page=1&cid=814505#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/08/nuclear-fusion-updated-project-reviews.html [nextbigfuture.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]