Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls

Kenell James Touryan

doi:doi:10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12

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Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls

Kenell James Touryan

Published in American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (Volume 9, Issue 6)

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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[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.

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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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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls
AU  - Kenell James Touryan
Y1  - 2020/12/22
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
T2  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
JF  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
JO  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
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EP  - 108
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-9200
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
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.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Kenell James Touryan

College of Science and Engineering, American University of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

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

Copy | Download

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

Copy | Download

@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}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Controlled Fusion: Magnetic and Inertial, Promises and Pitfalls
AU  - Kenell James Touryan
Y1  - 2020/12/22
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
T2  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
JF  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
JO  - American Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems
SP  - 104
EP  - 108
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-9200
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.epes.20200906.12
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.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download