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Fusion Energy

Book

ITER Physics

C. Wendell Horton Jr., Sadruddin Benkadda
The promise of a vast and clean source of thermal power drove physics research for over fifty years and has finally come to collimation with the international consortium led by the European Union and Japan, with an agreement from seven countries to build a definitive test of fusion power in ITER. It happened because scientists since the Manhattan project have envisioned controlled nuclear fusion in obtaining energy with no carbon dioxide emissions and no toxic nuclear waste products. This large toroidal magnetic confinement ITER machine is described from confinement process to advanced physics of plasma-wall interactions, where pulses erupt from core plasma blistering the machine walls. Emissions from the walls reduce the core temperature which must remain ten times hotter than the 15 million degree core solar temperature to maintain ITER fusion power. The huge temperature gradient from core to wall that drives intense plasma turbulence is described in detail. Also explained are the methods designed to limit the growth of small magnetic islands, the growth of edge localized plasma plumes and the solid state physics limits of the stainless steel walls of the confinement vessel from the burning plasma. Designs of the wall coatings and the special "exhaust pipe" for spent hot plasma are provided in two chapters. And the issues associated with high-energy neutrons — about 10 times higher than in fission reactions — and how they are managed in ITER, are detailed.Readership: For nuclear fusion and ITER specialists.
Book

Energy from the Nucleus: The Science and Engineering of Fission and Fusion (World Scientific Series in Current Energy Issues)

Gerard M. Crawley
Nuclear energy is important — as part of national energy policies, and as a source of carbon free energy; however, incidents such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), the Chernobyl disaster (1986), the Three Mile Island accident (1979), and the SL-1 accident (1961) have cast doubts on nuclear energy remaining a part of national energy roadmaps. This volume gives an excellent overview of the current situation, as well as the enormous advantages of an essentially unlimited fuel with minimal environmental impact offered by nuclear fusion. Energy from the Nucleus focuses on the two main approaches in producing energy from the nucleus: fission and fusion. The former is covered by an overview of the statuses of current and future generations of nuclear fission reactors, including new safety requirements and the environmental impact; while the latter explores, namely, inertial confinement fusion and magnetic confinement fusion — including the new international fusion test facility, ITER. The expertise of the authors invited for the various chapters, who are themselves active participants in the technologies, ensures that the accounts and information given are reliable and current. Not to mention, their foresight on the future direction of energy will no doubt enlighten our understanding of Energy from the nucleus.  Readership: Students and professionals interested in/dealing with nuclear engineering; scientists, engineers and policymakers interfacing with nuclear engineering and power.
Book

Fusion Energy and Power: Applications, Technologies and Challenges

Lionel Romero
The worldwide fusion community continues its research efforts on magnetic confinement as the most promising, long-term, environmentally-friendly power source. Despite the ongoing fusion research efforts in many countries, the technology and materials-related challenges remain formidable and will hinder and delay the first fusion demonstration plant for decades. In this book, the current understanding of technology-related challenges facing fusion research are explored. Advances in fusion neutronics integral experiments in the benchmark mock assemblies for the blanket of a fusion-fission hybrid energy reactor are also described in brief. Cold Fusion (CF) is examined as well, with the authors' argument backed by evidence that cold fusion (CF) can become more understandable. The final chapter details the Force Free Helical Reactor (FFHR) and its implications on fusion power. Contents:  Overview of Fusion Neutronics Experiments for Blanket of a Hybrid Energy Reactor  (Rong Liu, Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Neutron Physics, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang, Sichuan, China)  Technology-Related Challenges Facing Fusion Power Plants  (Laila A. El-Guebaly, Lorenzo V. Boccaccini, Richard J. Kurtz, and Lester M. Waganer, University of Wisconsin, Fusion Technology Institute, Madison, WI, USA, and others)  Old Math and Renewed Physics: Keys to Engineering Cold Fusion  (Cynthia Kolb Whitney, Editor, Galilean Electrodynamics)  Control Concept for the High Density and Low Temperature Ignition in the FFHR Helical Reactor  (O. Mitarai, A. Sagara and R. Sakamoto, Kumamoto Liberal Arts Education Center, Tokai University, Toroku, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto, Japan, and others)
Book

Search for the Ultimate Energy Source: A History of the U.S. Fusion Energy Program (Green Energy and Technology)

Stephen O. Dean
Why has the clean, limitless energy promised by fusion always seemed just out of reach?Search for the Ultimate Energy Source: A History of the U.S. Fusion Energy Program, explains the fundamentals and concepts behind fusion power, and traces the development of fusion historically by decade—covering its history as dictated by US government policies, its major successes, and its prognosis for the future. The reader will gain an understanding of how the development of fusion has been shaped by changing government priorities as well as other hurdles currently facing realization of fusion power. Advance Praise for Search for the Ultimate Energy Source:“Dr. Dean has been uniquely involved in world fusion research for decades and, in this book, describes the complicated realities like few others possibly could.”-Robert L. Hirsch, a former director of the US fusion program, an Assistant Administrator of the US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA); an executive at Exxon, Arco, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and lead author of the book The Impending World Energy Mess(Apogee Prime Books, 2009).“In this book, Dr. Dean provides the many reasons why fusion has progressed more slowly than many had hoped. Budget is usually cited as the culprit, but policy is equally to blame. Facilities have been closed down before their jobs were done—or in some cases, even started. It seems this situation has become endemic in fusion, and if one thinks about it, in other nationally important Science and Technology initiatives as well.”-William R. Ellis, a former scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Associate Director of Research at the US Naval Research Laboratory, a vice president at Ebasco Services and at Raytheon, and chair of the US ITER Industry Council and the US ITER Industrial Consortium.