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A 12.5 T superconducting dipole magnet (European DIPOle, EDIPO) is designed by EFDA, which is procured within the framework of the European Fusion Programme in order to be installed in CRPP-PSI. The magnet parameters are described together with the key supporting electromagnetic, mechanical and thermal analyses.

The article presents the THELMA analysis of the effects of current non-uniformity on the DC performance of the Good Joint (GJ) conductor. Results suggest that the reduction of the performance with the chopped joint is an effect of the increasingly unbalanced current distribution.

The predictive analysis of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Poloidal Field Conductor Insert (PFCI) test program is presented. PFCI is the first insert coil based on NbTi and is aimed at bridging the extrapolation gap between its full-size short sample and the ITER Poloidal Field (PF) coils.

A study established the need of cryogenic hydrogenic fuels in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) ignition targets. Efficient implosion of such targets has mandated keeping the adiabat of the main fuel layer at low levels to ensure drive energies are kept at reasonable minima.

A digital VCSEL driver has been designed, simulated and assessed under radiation, using discrete SiGe HBTs. The circuit tolerates high levels of gamma radiation, up to 12 MGy, features less than 2% drift in the forward current of the VCSEL and operates well above 10 MHz. The output duty cycle shows no notable degradation at 200 kHz, enabling the design of robust analog and digital communication systems using pulse-width-modulation (PWM) schemes. Index Terms--International experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor (ITER), laser driver, optical transmitter, radiation effects, SiGe HBT, vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL).

The results of stability tests conducted on short samples of the aluminum/copper stabilized composite-type superconductors intended for the pool-cooled helical coils of the Large Helical Device are presented. A short-time increase prior to reaching a final value is observed in the waveform of the longitudinal voltage that is initiated by the resistive heaters. The observation corresponds to the diffusion process into the pure aluminum stabilizer of the transport current.

The design of an improved joint intended for the electrical connections of the large niobium-tin cable-in-conduit conductors of the Central Solenoid and Toroidal Field coils of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is presented. The joint sample is used to investigate the occurrence of resistances between strand pairs attributed to the two conductor sections. The results indicate the possibility of inferring the current distribution in the conductors under direct current conditions.

A report on the manufacture of the first European full-size joint sample for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Toroidal Field Model Coil project is presented. The sample, fabricated by Ansaldo, is composed of two parallel straight bars of full-size conductors that are connected at the bottom via a joint design based on the European Union proposal for the ITER coils. Three samples have already been fabricated and tested for the project.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a fusion energy cooperative programme among the European Atomic Energy Community, the Governments of Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States of America. The main objective of the ITER Project is to achieve a controlled ignited burn time of 1000 seconds. The nominal fusion power is to be 1500 MW. During the first 10 years of operation, the Basic Performance Phase, the machine should achieve typically a total of a few thousand hours of burn, while during the second phase, the Enhanced Performance Phase, a more extensive burn time is expected for material tests, energy extraction and tritium breeding tests. The machine is a tokamak and has a toroidal geometry. The plasma, with major and minor radii of respectively 8.1 and 2.8 m, will carry a current of 21 MA. The plasma current is induced and controlled by a set of large superconducting coils with a diameter up to 30 m. The confining toroidal magnetic field will be produced by a set of 20 large superconducting magnets with a total magnetic stored energy of 100 GJ and a maximum field at the winding of 12.5 T. The plasma and nuclear engineering features of the project are also described.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is an ambitious international program whose ultimate goal is to prove the feasibility of fusion as an energy source. Despite the overwhelming complexity of […]

The Energy Department has envisioned a new 20 year science plan called 'Facilities for the Future of Science: A Twenty-year Outlook' consisting of a powerful nuclear fusion reactor and 27 other large science projects designed to achieve important breakthroughs. The development of a power-generating fusion reactor, a massive computer network called the Ultrascale Scientific Computing Capability, satellite for measuring invisible dark matter in space, high power laser to photograph complex proteins and chemical reactions are the high priority projects.

PITTSBURGH -- Turbulence is plasmas, or ionized gases, was once an obscure topic studied far from the public eye. That was before a debate erupted among researchers over whether turbulence [...]

Fusion first: Construction of ITER, the multibillion-dollar fusion experiment in St Paullez-Durance, France, is poised to kick into high gear. On 13 April, Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Union's [...]