In the race toward practical fusion energy, tokamaks (donut-shaped plasma devices) are the leading concept—they have achieved better confinement and higher plasma temperatures than any other configuration. Two major magnetic ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 8, 2021
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Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory have uncovered a key process behind a major challenge called thermal quenches, the rapid heat loss ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 8, 2021
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12
A team of fusion researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory used datasets from measurements on the Joint European Torus, or JET, tokamak to model an improved method for quantifying the amount ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 15, 2021
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Impurities in the plasmas in fusion tokamaks can reduce performance. These impurities are created by interactions between the hot plasma and the metal tokamak walls. These walls are often armored with tungsten. This material ...
Plasma Physics
Oct 15, 2021
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8
Tokamak devices use strong magnetic fields to confine and to shape the plasma that contains the fuel that achieves fusion. The shape of the plasma affects the ease or difficulty of achieving a viable fusion power source. ...
Plasma Physics
Sep 2, 2021
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264
Think of light bulb filaments that glow when you flip a switch. That glow also occurs in magnetic fusion facilities known as tokamaks that are designed to harness the energy that powers the sun and stars. Understanding how ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 31, 2021
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Stellarators, twisty magnetic devices that aim to harness on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars, have long played second fiddle to more widely used doughnut-shaped facilities known as tokamaks. The complex ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 30, 2021
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673
Physicists are like bees—they can cross-pollinate, taking ideas from one area and using them to develop breakthroughs in other areas. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory ...
Plasma Physics
Aug 20, 2021
1
765
Want to improve your chances of making electricity from fusion? Look no further than the cleaners under your kitchen sink.
Condensed Matter
Apr 2, 2021
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362
Tokamaks, devices that use magnetic fields to confine plasma into torus-shaped chamber, could play a crucial role in the development of highly performing nuclear fusion reactors. The ITER tokamak, which is set to be the largest ...
