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Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls

Received: 30 November 2020     Accepted: 14 December 2020     Published: 22 December 2020
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Abstract

As with biomass, hydro, solar and wind power, fusion power can also generate clean energy, using deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, abundantly available in our oceans. Our sun uses hydrogen in a fusion process to generate power. It has been demonstrated that fusion power can be generated on earth, under carefully controlled conditions using deuterium and tritium instead of hydrogen. There are two fundamental approaches to controlled fusion: magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) first proposed at Princeton University in 1951, and inertial confinement fusion (ICF) that followed shortly thereafter, first proposed at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in 1970. Progress made on magnetic fusion led to the planning and construction of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), expected to be completed in 2035. In this article, we explain the processes necessary to generate fusion power through MCF and ICF. Unlike nuclear power, as a practical means to generate electricity, controlled fusion has presented the technical/scientific community with a plethora of very difficult challenges. It is only recently, after decades of intense research in many laboratories worldwide, that we have begun to see devices being built on a fusion reactor scale and hence the design of ITER. The challenges are many but require patience and perseverance.

Published in American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (Volume 9, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
Page(s) 104-108
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Magnetic Fusion, Inertial Fusion, Controlled Fusion, Plasma Dynamics, ITER, Plasma Confinement, Clean Energy

References
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[4] Lawson, J. D., Proceedings of the Physical Society, Section B. 70, 6 (1957).
[5] Hawryluk, Richard, Rev. Mod. Physics 70, 537 (1998).
[6] Chen, Francis F., Introduction to Plasma Physics, Third Edition, 2016 (Berlin: Springer) Chapter 10 for description of other confinement approaches.
[7] Y-KM Peng et al ''Component Test Facility Based on Spherical Tokamak", Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 2005 Vol 47, 12B.
[8] Greenwalk, Martin, Status of the SPARC physics basis, Journal of Plasma Physics, 2020; 86 (5) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017S0022377820001063.
[9] Creely, A. J. et al Overview of the SPARC Tokamak, Jof Plasma Physics 86 (5), 2020.
[10] Manheimer, W., Physics Today 73, 7, 10 (2020).
[11] Lindl, J. D., Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995).
[12] LePape, S., et al., Phys. Rev. Letter 120, 245003 (2018).
[13] Kramer, D., Physics Today, Politics and Policy, 17 June 2016.
[14] Private Communication, Dr Marshall M. Sluyter, Former Director of NIF, US Department of Energy, August, 2020.
[15] Clary, Daniel. 'Laser Fusion reactor approaches burning plasma milestone' Science, Nov 27, 2020.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kenell James Touryan. (2020). Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls. American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems, 9(6), 104-108. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12

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    ACS Style

    Kenell James Touryan. Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls. Am. J. Electr. Power Energy Syst. 2020, 9(6), 104-108. doi: 10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12

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    AMA Style

    Kenell James Touryan. Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls. Am J Electr Power Energy Syst. 2020;9(6):104-108. doi: 10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12,
      author = {Kenell James Touryan},
      title = {Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls},
      journal = {American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems},
      volume = {9},
      number = {6},
      pages = {104-108},
      doi = {10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.epes.20200906.12},
      abstract = {As with biomass, hydro, solar and wind power, fusion power can also generate clean energy, using deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, abundantly available in our oceans. Our sun uses hydrogen in a fusion process to generate power. It has been demonstrated that fusion power can be generated on earth, under carefully controlled conditions using deuterium and tritium instead of hydrogen. There are two fundamental approaches to controlled fusion: magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) first proposed at Princeton University in 1951, and inertial confinement fusion (ICF) that followed shortly thereafter, first proposed at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in 1970. Progress made on magnetic fusion led to the planning and construction of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), expected to be completed in 2035. In this article, we explain the processes necessary to generate fusion power through MCF and ICF. Unlike nuclear power, as a practical means to generate electricity, controlled fusion has presented the technical/scientific community with a plethora of very difficult challenges. It is only recently, after decades of intense research in many laboratories worldwide, that we have begun to see devices being built on a fusion reactor scale and hence the design of ITER. The challenges are many but require patience and perseverance.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    JF  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
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    AB  - As with biomass, hydro, solar and wind power, fusion power can also generate clean energy, using deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, abundantly available in our oceans. Our sun uses hydrogen in a fusion process to generate power. It has been demonstrated that fusion power can be generated on earth, under carefully controlled conditions using deuterium and tritium instead of hydrogen. There are two fundamental approaches to controlled fusion: magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) first proposed at Princeton University in 1951, and inertial confinement fusion (ICF) that followed shortly thereafter, first proposed at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in 1970. Progress made on magnetic fusion led to the planning and construction of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), expected to be completed in 2035. In this article, we explain the processes necessary to generate fusion power through MCF and ICF. Unlike nuclear power, as a practical means to generate electricity, controlled fusion has presented the technical/scientific community with a plethora of very difficult challenges. It is only recently, after decades of intense research in many laboratories worldwide, that we have begun to see devices being built on a fusion reactor scale and hence the design of ITER. The challenges are many but require patience and perseverance.
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Author Information
  • College of Science and Engineering, American University of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

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