#Tokamak Reactor

[suprcomputranimalracingsimulatr]

Outpost (1994)

[wayti-blog]

"Like atoms coming together to release their power, fusion researchers worldwide are joining forces to solve the world's energy crisis. Harnessing the power of fusing plasma as a reliable energy source for the power grid is no easy task, requiring global contributions."

"Triangularity refers to the shape of the plasma relative to the tokamak. The cross section of the plasma in a tokamak is typically shaped like the capital letter D. When the straight part of the D faces the center of the tokamak, it is said to have positive triangularity. When the curved part of the plasma faces the center, the plasma has negative triangularity."

""It's a potential game changer with attractive fusion performance and power handling for future compact fusion reactors," he said. "Negative triangularity has a lower level of fluctuations inside the plasma, but it also has a larger divertor area to distribute the heat exhaust."

The spherical shape of SMART should make it better at confining the plasma than it would be if it were doughnut shaped. The shape matters significantly in terms of plasma confinement. That is why NSTX-U, PPPL's main fusion experiment, isn't squat like some other tokamaks: the rounder shape makes it easier to confine the plasma. SMART will be the first spherical tokamak to fully explore the potential of a particular plasma shape known as negative triangularity."

continue reading

[noosphe-re]

Plasma density fluctuation in a tokamak plasma turbulence driven by ion temperature gradient. The green line shows the magnetic separatrix surface that contains the edge plasma pedestal within a few centimeters from it. Image: C.S. Chang, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (NERSC Sims Show How Recycled Atoms Boost Plasma Turbulence, https://cs.lbl.gov/news-media/news/2017/simulations-show-how-recycled-atoms-boost-plasma-turbulence/)

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Figure 27.23 shows a diagram of such a magnetic field and a photo of a prototype that is in operation in the USA.

"Chemistry" 2e - Blackman, A., Bottle, S., Schmid, S., Mocerino, M., Wille, U.

[literallymechanical]

Another comparison of the two most promising varieties of fusion reactor, tokamaks and stellarators. I used to work on tokamaks and now I'm doing stellarators and let me tell you. It's been an adjustment.

[mindblowingscience]

Scientists have overcome two key barriers to producing power from nuclear fusion, which could pave the way for producing near-limitless clean energy. The scientists have ensured that the nuclear fusion reaction overcomes the two barriers to operating in a “sweet spot” for optimal power production: boosting the plasma density and containing the dense plasma. A tokamak reactor is essentially used around the world for producing energy from fusion reactions. The reactors have a donut-shaped interior which is covered with magnets.

Continue Reading.

[necromancelena]

tricky treas

You get an experimental Tokamak fusion reactor

[accord-vn]

RSEC 3rd Gen "Janissary" AIU

The Janissary is the primary combat unit of the Republic of Stauros ExoCorps, the military force associated with Stauros's Department of the Exterior.

Pilots are selected through the prestigious Janissary program, wherein adolescents who fit the necessary criteria are chosen to become career soldiers. The crux of the program relies on teaching pilots to effectively utilize ext-SYN/TRA, a crude yet minimally invasive application of Stauros's synaptic transfer protocol. While more advanced applications of SYN/TRA are afforded to elites within the program, because of the inherent risks involved in its use and the fact that only an estimated 3% of humans have sufficient bio-compatibility, it does not see widespread use.

As the military arm of the Department of the Exterior, the ExoCorps's primary aim is to secure national interests regarding extraplanetary resources, transport, and exploration, which extends to maintaining Stauros's monopoly on space travel. Because of this, Janissaries are designed to be capable of combat both in and out of atmosphere.

Their propulsion is fueled by a single Tokamak reactor, which heats air for a jet engine within atmosphere and vents plasma outside of atmosphere. Because of this, leaving atmosphere unaided significantly reduces the life of the combat units, reinforcing their role as being primarily planetary forces.

Art is a WIP sketch by @himecommunism

[abbiistabbii]

Earth Change-notes 20072024.1

George Washington no longer King of Czechia.

Removed extra stripe from transgender pride flag.

Red Bull now no longer gives you literal wings.

Third Major football team (Dundee City) has been removed from Dundee.

The names of Hank and John Green have been swapped back to their original holders.

Removed Doggerland from the UN.

You can now no longer install Linux on Antoine Lavoisier.

Wacom tablets no longer give you the ability to shapeshift.

Sarah Palin has been removed from the board of British Telecom.

You can no longer play as Richard Stallman on Mario Kart World Tour.

St Andrews, Scotland, now no longer has a Tokamak Fusion reactor.

[wumblr]

huh? whuh??

[startreksetplans]

Phase II Engineering

Lets talk about the Phase II Engineering Set

Here the set is under construction

Initially the shaft was a smooth tube, but this would gain additional detail as seen here (photo from contemporary fanzine)

This post by ArtofTrek shows that the concept behind the chambers - much like a Tokamak reactor ( https://twitter.com/ArtofTrek/status/1733598547335946593 )

From this Phase II Enterprise blueprint (cleaned up by David Shaw) we can see that Engineering is immediately below the pylons. Instead of splitting the plasma of as with the TMP warp core onwards, the Phase II core would have set it straight up.

Test footage was shot on the Phase II Engineering set. This was to see how much of the set could be salvaged, how well it stood up to widescreen movie filming. The Phase II costumes were used for these tests.

Engineering as seen from the upper level - now with health and safety rails

Once TMP went into production, the Phase II set was converted into the motion picture set. One wall was opened up to extend the core. The red ceiling supports were retained, but boxed in at the sides to hide the hexagonal lattice. Image from ArtofTrek

The Phase II ceiling textured material was removed and repurposed for location filming of Vulcan at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. The textured material helped to protect the hot springs surface during filming

This set would be remodelled to become the TNG Engineering set and retained many of the features. It would also be used in ST:VI

It would be remodelled again for Voyager Engineering The columns, side wall, ceiling supports and upper level still existed in this set.

After Voyager, new ships had new built from scratch Engineering sets. Phase II Engineering carried on through a refit, a new generation and a voyage to the delta quadrant.

[eleemosynecdoche]

Iizunamaru Megumu stares at the phone on her desk. Her geta clack against the floor awkwardly. Dare she? Dare she not? The number is right there. She can press "Call" at any time. She frowns. She can hear a pair of her underlings- two crows, probably- having an argument at the group printer. A kind of argument everyone knows the contours of. There's a light thud as one shoves the other against the wall, cawing as they break away from making out to snap at each other-

Her finger jabs the phone. Tenkyuu picks up on the third ring. "Hey," Megumu begins. And then pauses. "I know," she says, "that things didn't work out for us. We needed some space, some breathing room"- another thud from outside- "but we agreed nothing had to be final." A click. Tenkyuu has hung up.

She lowers the phone and stares with an expression indescribable in human language, emotions fusing together like they've been put into a tokamak reactor with the magnetic fields fired up.

She scrolls down to Himemushi. Presses "Call". Himemushi picks up. "Listen. I know we didn't-" her voice catches. "I know it didn't work out, I know, OK? But maybe we can keep it casual, light and free and-"

Momoyo interrupts. "I didn't believe it."

"What?" Megumu's face is a portrait of pure confusion.

"I didn't believe that you'd lost your girltwink to the Moriya's shrine maiden." She chuckles. Megumu can feel the knuckle-cracking that surely must be accompanying it, the stretching. "And then you come running to me, now that you've lost that tight ass and that thin-lipped mouth and that sycophantic river pouring from her lips."

"This has nothing to do with Kudamaki," Megumu says. "It's about us. You and me. What we could have together."

A pause. Momoyo's voice is awkwardly gentle when she speaks again. "Iizunamaru... you're not a bad fuck, OK? The problem's never been with what you can do to someone, what someone can do to you. Physically." She takes a deep breath. "But lately I've been getting kinda tired of trying to eat women out at arm's-length, ya know? Not just you, not only you, but... I'm not gonna go for a casual lay unless she's gonna cuddle afterwards without thinking about it."

Megumu's hand trembles. "Iizunamaru... Megumu. Are you OK? I'm not telling you, 'absolutely not', all right? It ain't a good time, that's all, and I'm sorry you're frustrated, even if it's kinda funny to think about your little tube fox getting collared by the Kochiya girl..." Momoyo's compassionate, or as close to it as she can sound. There's something grotesque about that to Megumu.

"I'm completely fine. Have a very nice day, Himemushi." Click. Phone down on the desk.

"Shit." She mutters to herself. "Shit, shit, fuck, fuck, what now, what now." Possibilities loom. Terrible, but among them- she pulls the phone back up and scrolls around some more. Finds the number. Calls.

"Komakusa? Yeah, hi, Iizunamaru Megumu, I helped you dodge any problems with your business operations a little while back, very grateful to you for keeping my girls happy- listen. I have a favor to ask. Do you arrange tricks?" There are no tears. There is a light smile on her face. Her geta are beating into the floor like Raijin guides them.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

A new and unique fusion reactor comes together due to global research collaboration

Like atoms coming together to release their power, fusion researchers worldwide are joining forces to solve the world's energy crisis. Harnessing the power of fusing plasma as a reliable energy source for the power grid is no easy task, requiring global contributions.

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is leading several efforts on this front, including collaborating on the design and development of a new fusion device at the University of Seville in Spain. The SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART) strongly benefits from PPPL computer codes as well as the Lab's expertise in magnetics and sensor systems.

"The SMART project is a great example of us all working together to solve the challenges presented by fusion and teaching the next generation what we have already learned," said Jack Berkery, PPPL's deputy director of research for the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) and principal investigator for the PPPL collaboration with SMART. "We have to all do this together or it's not going to happen."

Manuel Garcia-Munoz and Eleonora Viezzer, both professors at the Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics of the University of Seville as well as co-leaders of the Plasma Science and Fusion Technology Lab and the SMART tokamak project, said PPPL seemed like the ideal partner for their first tokamak experiment. The next step was deciding what kind of tokamak they should build.

"It needed to be one that a university could afford but also one that could make a unique contribution to the fusion landscape at the university scale," said Garcia-Munoz. "The idea was to put together technologies that were already established: a spherical tokamak and negative triangularity, making SMART the first of its kind. It turns out it was a fantastic idea."

SMART should offer easy-to-manage fusion plasma

Triangularity refers to the shape of the plasma relative to the tokamak. The cross section of the plasma in a tokamak is typically shaped like the capital letter D. When the straight part of the D faces the center of the tokamak, it is said to have positive triangularity. When the curved part of the plasma faces the center, the plasma has negative triangularity.

Garcia-Munoz said negative triangularity should offer enhanced performance because it can suppress instabilities that expel particles and energy from the plasma, preventing damage to the tokamak wall.

"It's a potential game changer with attractive fusion performance and power handling for future compact fusion reactors," he said. "Negative triangularity has a lower level of fluctuations inside the plasma, but it also has a larger divertor area to distribute the heat exhaust."

The spherical shape of SMART should make it better at confining the plasma than it would be if it were doughnut shaped. The shape matters significantly in terms of plasma confinement. That is why NSTX-U, PPPL's main fusion experiment, isn't squat like some other tokamaks: the rounder shape makes it easier to confine the plasma. SMART will be the first spherical tokamak to fully explore the potential of a particular plasma shape known as negative triangularity.

PPPL's expertise in computer codes proves essential

PPPL has a long history of leadership in spherical tokamak research. The University of Seville fusion team first contacted PPPL to implement SMART in TRANSP, a simulation software developed and maintained by the Lab. Dozens of facilities use TRANSP, including private ventures such as Tokamak Energy in England.

"PPPL is a world leader in many, many areas, including fusion simulation; TRANSP is a great example of their success," said Garcia-Munoz.

Mario Podesta, formerly of PPPL, was integral to helping the University of Seville determine the configuration of the neutral beams used for heating the plasma. That work culminated in a paper published in the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

Stanley Kaye, director of research for NSTX-U, is now working with Diego Jose Cruz-Zabala, EUROfusion Bernard Bigot Researcher Fellow, from the SMART team, using TRANSP "to determine the shaping coil currents necessary for attaining their design plasma shapes of positive triangularity and negative triangularity at different phases of operation." The first phase, Kaye said, will involve a "very basic" plasma. Phase two will have neutral beams heating the plasma.

Separately, other computer codes were used for assessing the stability of future SMART plasmas by Berkery, former undergraduate intern John Labbate, who is, now a grad student at Columbia University, and former University of Seville graduate student Jesús Domínguez-Palacios, who has now moved to an American company. A new paper in Nuclear Fusion by Domínguez-Palacios discusses this work.

Designing diagnostics for the long haul

The collaboration between SMART and PPPL also extended into and one of the Lab's core areas of expertise: diagnostics, which are devices with sensors to assess the plasma. Several such diagnostics are being designed by PPPL researchers. PPPL Physicists Manjit Kaur and Ahmed Diallo, together with Viezzer, are leading the design of the SMART's Thomson scattering diagnostic, for example.

This diagnostic will precisely measure the plasma electron temperature and density during fusion reactions, as detailed in a new paper published in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments. These measurements will be complemented with ion temperature, rotation and density measurements provided by diagnostics known as the charge exchange recombination spectroscopy suite developed by Alfonso Rodriguez-Gonzalez, graduate student at University of Seville, Cruz-Zabala and Viezzer.

"These diagnostics can run for decades, so when we design the system, we keep that in mind," said Kaur. When developing the designs, it was important the diagnostic can handle temperature ranges SMART might achieve in the next few decades and not just the initial, low values, she said.

Kaur designed the Thomson scattering diagnostic from the start of the project, selecting and procuring its different subparts, including the laser she felt best fits the job. She was thrilled to see how well the laser tests went when Gonzalo Jimenez and Viezzer sent her photos from Spain. The test involved setting up the laser on a bench and shooting it at a piece of special parchment that the researchers call "burn paper." If the laser is designed just right, the burn marks will be circular with relatively smooth edges.

"The initial laser test results were just gorgeous," she said. "Now, we eagerly await receiving other parts to get the diagnostic up and running."

James Clark, a PPPL research engineer whose doctoral thesis focused on Thomson scattering systems, was later brought on to work with Kaur. "I've been designing the laser path and related optics," Clark explained. In addition to working on the engineering side of the project, Clark has also helped with logistics, deciding how and when things should be delivered, installed and calibrated.

PPPL's Head of Advanced Projects Luis Delgado-Aparicio, together with Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow Joaquin Galdon-Quiroga and University of Seville graduate student Jesus Salas-Barcenas, are leading efforts to add two other kinds of diagnostics to SMART: a multi-energy, soft X-ray (ME-SXR) diagnostic and spectrometers.

The ME-SXR will also measure the plasma's electron temperature and density but using a different approach than the Thomson scattering system. The ME-SXR will use sets of small electronic components called diodes to measure X-rays. Combined, the Thomson scattering diagnostic and the ME-SXR will comprehensively analyze the plasma's electron temperature and density.

By looking at the different frequencies of light inside the tokamak, the spectrometers can provide information about impurities in the plasma, such as oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. "We are using off-the-shelf spectrometers and designing some tools to put them in the machine, incorporating some fiber optics," Delgado-Aparicio said. Another new paper published in the Review of Scientific Instruments discusses the design of this diagnostic.

PPPL Research Physicist Stefano Munaretto worked on the magnetic diagnostic system for SMART with the field work led by University of Seville graduate student Fernando Puentes del Pozo Fernando.

"The diagnostic itself is pretty simple," said Munaretto. "It's just a wire wound around something. Most of the work involves optimizing the sensor's geometry by getting its size, shape and length correct, selecting where it should be located and all the signal conditioning and data analysis involved after that." The design of SMART's magnetics is detailed in a new paper also published in Review of Scientific Instruments.

Munaretto said working on SMART has been very fulfilling, with much of the team working on the magnetic diagnostics made up of young students with little previous experience in the field. "They are eager to learn, and they work a lot. I definitely see a bright future for them."

Delgado-Aparicio agreed. "I enjoyed quite a lot working with Manuel Garcia-Munoz, Eleonora Viezzer and all of the other very seasoned scientists and professors at the University of Seville, but what I enjoyed most was working with the very vibrant pool of students they have there," he said.

"They are brilliant and have helped me quite a bit in understanding the challenges that we have and how to move forward toward obtaining first plasmas."

Researchers at the University of Seville have already run a test in the tokamak, displaying the pink glow of argon when heated with microwaves. This process helps prepare the tokamak's inner walls for a far denser plasma contained at a higher pressure. While technically, that pink glow is from a plasma, it's at such a low pressure that the researchers don't consider it their real first tokamak plasma. Garcia-Munoz says that will likely happen in the fall of 2024.

IMAGE: SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART) is being built at the University of Seville in Spain, in collaboration with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. (Photo credit: University of Seville). Credit: University of SevilleL

[noosphe-re]

Movie of 3-D cutaway view of a shaped tokamak simulation, including beam-driven sheared flows. Note the simulation domain is not a whole torus, but of a hollow annulus. (https://w3.pppl.gov/~hammett/viz/viz.html)

[edaworks]

'Sup, y'all. I do game things, queer things, art things, and fic things. I make props and costumes. Expect plenty of Fallout, complaints about practicing law, and ADHD adventures. Edakumi on AO3, and @twosides--samecoin's wife (she does cool fic things, go read her stuff).

I do a lot of driving through IRL locations that have made it into the Fallout franchise, so I post about it.

Exploring the Map (tag for photos/posts about IRL vs. in-game locations)

Wasteland Survival Guide (tag for How Things Work longposts about Fallout-tangential topics (how to fuel your vertibird; finding MacCready's homestead; how a tokamak reactor works; etc.)

Travel Talks (tag for informational posts re: sending your characters between Fallout map locations, for fic and tabletop RP purposes)

I do fic things (or try to anyway):

oneifbyland (tag for fic development; may overlap with above tags)

I also paint and draw (tag is eda draws). I occasionally post cosplay/prop construction progress here too.