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December 27, 1990
PLASMA2.ASC
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The following text is a copy of an explanatory article which is
freely distributed to visitors of the Bradbury Science Museum at Los
Alamos National Laboratory.
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METHODS TOWARD A FUSION REACTOR THROUGH
MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT AND HEATING
The object of the Controlled Thermonuclear Research (CTR) program is
to provide a new and essentially inexhaustible energy source by
controlling thermonuclear reactions-the energy source of the sun and
the stars.
The explosion of a hydrogen bomb is an example of rapid
thermonuclear energy release. Through the CTR program, scientists
at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) and elsewhere are
working toward developing a method to slow down this energy release
in a new type of nuclear reactor-the fusion reactor.
A thermonuclear reaction is a "fusion" reaction whereby the nuclei
of light atoms, such as hydrogen, heavy hydrogen (deuterium), and
lithium, are welded or fused together. All present nuclear reactors
operate by the "fission" process, which is the splitting of nuclei
of heavy atoms such as uranium or plutonium into lighter elements,
plus the release of energy.
Also, large amounts of energy are released during the fusion
process. This energy, if controlled, can be made available as
electrical power or heat.
The importance of pursuing this difficult goal is evident when one
considers the limited supply of Earth's fossil fuels (coal, gas, and
oil) and commercial-grade uranium ores. In the face of an
increasing world energy demand, these conventional fuels may last
only another 50 to 400 years.
By contrast, fusion reactors could be fueled with deuterium, a heavy
isotope of hydrogen that is available in common seawater. The
energy potential from the deuterium in 1 gallon of water is
equivalent to 300 gallons of gasoline.
One cubic mile of water has the energy potential of 100,000 tons of
uranium-235. There is sufficient energy in the oceans to supply
power for many future generations.
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The end product of fusion is helium, which is harmless, and
neutrons, which are readily captured within the reactor core.
Therefore, we would only have few of the radioactive waste-disposal
problems that are common to fission-reactor power plants.
Furthermore, because of the small fuel inventory on hand, explosive
accidents would not be possible in a fusion reactor.
Research in controlled thermonuclear reactions was started at LASL
in 1951, although the idea had been discussed by LASL personnel
during World War II days.
To attain a power-producing thermonuclear reaction, one must produce
temperatures over 50,000,000 degrees C and contain pressures of tons
per square inch. These temperatures and pressures must be
maintained for at least one-hundredth of a second.
At thermonuclear temperatures, all matter exists as a plasma. (A
plasma is a gas composed of equal numbers of positive atomic nuclei
and negative electrons, which at ordinary temperatures would unite
to form neutral gas atoms and molecules.
A form of plasma is the glow in a household fluorescent lamp
fixture, for example.) Because a plasma is a good electrical
conductor, it can be held by magnetic forces.
The deuterium plasma that is created and studied in CTR experiments
is usually confined by special magnetic field configurations, called
"magnetic bottles."
A major effort of mational research in CTR is concerned with the
containment of plasma in toroidal-shaped magnetic bottles.
Particular types of these plasma bottles are the Tokamaks and the
toroidal Z pinches.
Toroidal Z pinches, with their higher currents, can be heated
ohmically, such as in the manner of an electric toaster. Tokamaks,
the major world effort in toroidal geometry, use other heating
methods.
A major area of fusion research at LASL is a toroidal Z-pinch
experiment, which has a 15-cm bore and a 40-cm major radius. The
plasma has been heated to approximately 10,000,000 degrees C by the
fast-rising magnetic field of a large toroidal (axial) current that
compresses, or pinches, the plasma.
In practice, the pinched plasma is stabilized by a nearby conducting
wall and a strong toroidal magnetic field that reverses its
direction on the outside of the pinch. Future experiments seek to
extend the present 30-microsecond confinement of the hot plasma.
A large toroidal Z-pinch experiment is now being designed and built
a LASL. This experiment, called ZT-40, is about 10 times larger
than the demonstration Z pinch.
The ZT-40 will have controllable magnetic field systems capable of
producing a reversed magnetic field outside the pinch. Reversed
field pinches have demonstrated longer lifetimes than ordinary
pinches, and it is expected that research information obtained from
the ZT-40 experiment will put us one step further toward the
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ultimate answer to the energy crisis: a fusion reactor that burns
fuel obtained from seawater!
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Next is a copy of another information sheet produced by Los Alamos
National Laboratory.
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MAGNETIC FUSION RESEARCH IN CTR-DIVISION
Thermonuclear fusion research began in the 1950's in the United
States, Great Britian and the Soviet Union. From the beginning Los
Alamos made significant contributions to this research and continues
to play an important role now.
For example, the first successful laboratory experiments to produce
thermonuclear reactions were done at Los Alamos in 1958. During the
1960's and 1970's considerable progress was made throughout the
world in magnetic confinement research.
Today at Los Alamos, the emphasis in magnetic confinement research
is on two concepts, the reversed field pinch and the compact toroid.
Both of these concepts have the potential for development as small,
compact fusion reactors.
The work in CTR-Division is part of the national magnetic fusion
energy research program to develop fusion energy as a practical,
economical energy resource.
ZT-40M
ZT-40M is a reversed field pinch experiment. It has a toroidal, or
donut-shaped, magnetic confinement geometry and uses strong electric
currents in the plasma to produce some of the magnetic fields that
confine the plasma.
These currents also heat the plasma just as electric currents heat
the wires in an electric toaster. ZT-40M has produced hot plasma at
temperatures between 3 and 4 million degrees Celsius. The plasmas
are produced in pulses in ZT-40M which last about 20 to 25
milliseconds.
CTX-SPHEROMAK
CTX is a compact toroid experiment. The experiment produces
toroidally shaped plasmas, just as in ZT-40M but without the
toroidal vaccum vessel and magnetic coils surrounding the plasma.
Instead, the confining magnetic fields are generated principally by
electric currents flowing within the plasma itself, and the hole in
the torus shrinks to produce a compact toriodal shape. CTX has
produced hot plasmas at temperatures between one and two million
degrees Celsius, in pulses lasting one to two milliseconds.
FRX-C
FRX-C is another type of compact toroid experiment that produces
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prolate (tall, cigar-shaped) toroidal plasmas. As in the CTX
Spheromak, FRX-C relies on internal currents for confining magnetic
fields.
Temperatures as high as 10 million degrees Celsius have been
achieved in FRX-C. Plasma pulses lasting up to 300 microseconds
have been produced.
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Contributed by Michael McQuay
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