Cross section of a preliminary concept for the tritium-breeding blanket of an FRC power plant.

Field-Reversed Configuration

Field-reversed configuration (FRC) power plants appear likely to provide an excellent balance between potential reactor attractiveness and technical development risk. In particular, (1) the linear, cylindrical FRC geometry facilitates the design of tritium-breeding blankets, shields, magnets, and input-power systems, and (2) the high FRC beta (plasma pressure/magnetic field pressure) increases the plasma power density and allows a compact reactor design.
With regard to fusion development, the FRC provides a good balance between physics uncertainty and engineering attractiveness. The trade-offs among physics, engineering, safety, and environmental considerations have only recently gained prominence, and excellent progress is being made by the small worldwide FRC research community regarding physics obstacles.

Publications

14 publications found    » search for others     [linked reports are PDF]

UWFDM-1214    A Passively Proliferation-Proof Fusion Power Plant; J.F. Santarius, G.L. Kulcinski, L.A. El-Guebaly, November 2002 [presented at the 15th ANS Topical Meeting on Technology of Fusion Energy, 17-21 November 2002, Washington DC; published in Fusion Science and Technology 44, 289 (2003)].

UWFDM-1136    A Helium Cooled Li2O Straight Tube Blanket Design for Cylindrical Geometry; E.A. Mogahed, H.Y. Khater, J.F. Santarius, October 2000 [presented at the 14th Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy, October 15-19, 2000, Park City UT; published in Fusion Technology, Part 2, 39, 639 (2001)].

UWFDM-1130    Field-Reversed Configurations for Space Propulsion; J.F. Santarius, June 2000 [presented at the 31st AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Conference, 19-22 June 2000, Denver CO].

UWFDM-1129    Final Report for the Field-Reversed Configuration Power Plant Critical-Issue Scoping Study; J.F. Santarius, E.A. Mogahed, G.A. Emmert, H.Y. Khater, C.N. Nguyen, S.V. Ryzhkov, M.D. Stubna, L.C. Steinhauer, G.H. Miley, March 2000.

UWFDM-1102    Energy and Particle Confinement Times for a Field-Reversed Configuration; Sergei V. Ryzhkov, June 1999 [submitted to Nuclear Fusion].

UWFDM-1084    Field-Reversed Configuration Power Plant Critical Issues; J.F. Santarius, G.A. Emmert, H.Y. Khater, E.A. Mogahed, C.N. Nguyen, L.C. Steinhauer, G.H. Miley, June 1998.

UWFDM-1068    FRC Power Plants - A Fusion Development Perspective; J.F. Santarius, G.A. Emmert, H.Y. Khater, E.A. Mogahed, C.N. Nguyen, L.C. Steinhauer, G.H. Miley, April 1998 [to be published in the Proceedings of the U.S.-Japan Workshop on the Physics of High-Beta Fusion Plasmas (Seattle, Washington, March 18-20, 1998)].

UWFDM-272    Laser Fusion Hybrids - Technical, Economic and Proliferation Considerations; G.A. Moses, R.W. Conn, and S.I. Abdel-Khalik, November 1978.

UWFDM-263    Neutronics Optimization Studies for a Proliferation Resistant Fuel Assembly from the Fusion-Fission Fuel Factory, SOLASE-H; M.Z. Youssef, R.W. Conn, and G.A. Moses, October 1978.

retrieve PDF    A Passively Proliferation-Proof Fusion Power Plant; J.F. Santarius, G.L. Kulcinski, L.A. El-Guebaly, November 2002 [presented at the 15th ANS Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy, 17-21 November 2002, Washington, DC].

retrieve PDF    Proliferation-Proof Fusion Power; J.F. Santarius, G.L. Kulcinski, L.A. El-Guebaly, January 2002 [Presented at the Innovative Confinement Concepts Conference and Fusion Skunkworks, 22-24 January 2002, College Park MD].

retrieve PDF    Fusion Space Propulsion Using Field-Reversed Configurations; J.F. Santarius, April 2001 [presented at the NASA-JPL/MSFC/AIAA Twelfth Annual Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop, University of Alabama-Huntsville, April 3-5, 2001].

retrieve PDF    A Helium Cooled Li2O Straight Tube Blanket Design for Cylindrical Geometry; E.A. Mogahed, H.Y. Khater, J.F. Santarius, October 2000 [presented at the 14th Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy, October 15-19, 2000, Park City UT].

retrieve PDF    Field-Reversed Configuration Fusion Power Plants; John F. Santarius, June 1999 [Presented at the Workshop on Status and Promising Directions for FRC Research, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, 8 June 1999].