New Tokamak aims for ignition

[KeithPickering]

A new tokamak reactor, based on MIT’s Alcator C-mod, is being planned by a Russian-Italian consortium. Alcator C-mod holds the current records for magnetic field strength (5 to 8 Tesla) and plasma pressure among existing tokamaks. It is hoped that the new tokamak, called Ignitor, will achieve ignition, wherein the plasma will fuse itself from energy released by previous fusion reactions.

More here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100512145348.htm

[vansig]

White says it is important to pursue this project in addition to other approaches to fusion. “With our present knowledge it is very risky to commit the program to a single track reactor development — our knowledge is still in flux,” he says.

it is good to see people promote alternative approaches as well, instead of gobble up money.

[jamesr]

More details are available at: http://www.frascati.enea.it/ignitor/

It is only a short duration device, designed to run for ~10s. Purely for experimental purposes, a real power producing device couldn’t be this size/design.
It only has normal copper coil magnets so cannot run for long before they heat up.

It will be good to have a tokamak that can reach ignition before ITER as there is still more information needed regarding the stability of plasmas with alpha particle heating.

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