Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends
Fifty years ago, the secrecy surrounding magnetically controlled thermonuclear fusion had been lifted allowing researchers to freely share technical results and discuss the challenges of harnessing fusion power. There were only four magnetic confinement fusion concepts pursued internationally: tokam...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2010-06-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/3/6/1067/ |
| _version_ | 1811278240413646848 |
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| author | Laila A. El-Guebaly |
| author_facet | Laila A. El-Guebaly |
| author_sort | Laila A. El-Guebaly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fifty years ago, the secrecy surrounding magnetically controlled thermonuclear fusion had been lifted allowing researchers to freely share technical results and discuss the challenges of harnessing fusion power. There were only four magnetic confinement fusion concepts pursued internationally: tokamak, stellarator, pinch, and mirror. Since the early 1970s, numerous fusion designs have been developed for the four original and three new approaches: spherical torus, field-reversed configuration, and spheromak. At present, the tokamak is regarded worldwide as the most viable candidate to demonstrate fusion energy generation. Numerous power plant studies (>50), extensive R&D programs, more than 100 operating experiments, and an impressive international collaboration led to the current wealth of fusion information and understanding. As a result, fusion promises to be a major part of the energy mix in the 21st century. The fusion roadmaps developed to date take different approaches, depending on the anticipated power plant concept and the degree of extrapolation beyond ITER. Several Demos with differing approaches will be built in the US, EU, Japan, China, Russia, Korea, India, and other countries to cover the wide range of near-term and advanced fusion systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:31:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7b250ae938d44054b29ad7603d242b69 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:31:11Z |
| publishDate | 2010-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-7b250ae938d44054b29ad7603d242b692022-12-22T03:10:27ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732010-06-01361067108610.3390/en30601067Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future TrendsLaila A. El-GuebalyFifty years ago, the secrecy surrounding magnetically controlled thermonuclear fusion had been lifted allowing researchers to freely share technical results and discuss the challenges of harnessing fusion power. There were only four magnetic confinement fusion concepts pursued internationally: tokamak, stellarator, pinch, and mirror. Since the early 1970s, numerous fusion designs have been developed for the four original and three new approaches: spherical torus, field-reversed configuration, and spheromak. At present, the tokamak is regarded worldwide as the most viable candidate to demonstrate fusion energy generation. Numerous power plant studies (>50), extensive R&D programs, more than 100 operating experiments, and an impressive international collaboration led to the current wealth of fusion information and understanding. As a result, fusion promises to be a major part of the energy mix in the 21st century. The fusion roadmaps developed to date take different approaches, depending on the anticipated power plant concept and the degree of extrapolation beyond ITER. Several Demos with differing approaches will be built in the US, EU, Japan, China, Russia, Korea, India, and other countries to cover the wide range of near-term and advanced fusion systems.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/3/6/1067/fusion historymagnetic fusion conceptspower plants designs |
| spellingShingle | Laila A. El-Guebaly Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends Energies fusion history magnetic fusion concepts power plants designs |
| title | Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends |
| title_full | Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends |
| title_fullStr | Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends |
| title_short | Fifty Years of Magnetic Fusion Research (1958–2008): Brief Historical Overview and Discussion of Future Trends |
| title_sort | fifty years of magnetic fusion research 1958 2008 brief historical overview and discussion of future trends |
| topic | fusion history magnetic fusion concepts power plants designs |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/3/6/1067/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lailaaelguebaly fiftyyearsofmagneticfusionresearch19582008briefhistoricaloverviewanddiscussionoffuturetrends |