A key challenge in fusion research is maintaining the stability of the hot, charged plasma that fuels fusion reactions inside doughnut-shaped facilities called "tokamaks." Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 14, 2018
0
8
You may be most familiar with the element lithium as an integral component of your smart phone's battery, but the element also plays a role in the development of clean fusion energy. When used on tungsten surfaces in fusion ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 6, 2018
0
34
Nuclear fusion for the controlled and regular generation of electric power by converting hydrogen into helium and reproducing on a small scale what happens within stars is one of the foremost technological promises for coming ...
Plasma Physics
Jan 30, 2018
2
31
A laser-driven technique for creating fusion that dispenses with the need for radioactive fuel elements and leaves no toxic radioactive waste is now within reach, say researchers.
Plasma Physics
Dec 13, 2017
47
2161
To fuse hydrogen atoms into helium, doughnut-shaped devices called tokamaks must maintain the heat of the ultrahot plasma they control. But like boiling water, plasma has blobs, or bubbles, that percolate within the plasma ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 19, 2017
1
15
Researchers led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have proposed an innovative design to improve the ability of future fusion power plants to generate safe, clean and abundant ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 17, 2017
0
12
A key hurdle for fusion researchers is understanding turbulence, the ripples and eddies that can cause the superhot plasma that fuels fusion reactions to leak heat and particles and keep fusion from taking place. Comprehending ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 14, 2017
27
179
Scientists have discovered a remarkably simple way to suppress a common instability that can halt fusion reactions and damage the walls of reactors built to create a "star in a jar." The findings, published in June in the ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 18, 2017
15
660
A computer code used by physicists around the world to analyze and predict tokamak experiments can now approximate the behavior of highly energetic atomic nuclei, or ions, in fusion plasmas more accurately than ever. The ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 9, 2017
1
13
For fusion to generate substantial energy, the ultra-hot plasma that fuels fusion reactions must remain stable and kept from cooling. Researchers have recently shown lithium, a soft, silver-white metal, to be effective in ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 15, 2017
0
8
