2026-09-20T11:01:04Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/580882022-01-13T07:54:41Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131024
Dennis Whyte.
Reed, Mark W. (Mark Wilbert)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
2010-09-01T16:29:03Z
2010-09-01T16:29:03Z
2009
2010
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/58088
654107402
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, June 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-70).
We perform extensive analysis on the physics of L-mode tokamak fusion reactors to identify (1) a favorable parameter space for a large scale steady-state reactor and (2) an operating point for a minimum scale steady-state reactor. The identification of the large scale parameter space is part of the 2008 MIT Nuclear Systems Design Project, which also includes sustainability and economic optimizations to identify a plausible operating point for a large scale (a 14 m major radius) hydrogen production reactor dubbed HYPERION. Due to the potentially prohibitive capital cost (a $50 billion) and exorbitant thermal power (a 35 GWth) of HYPERION, we identify a conservative estimate for the minimum scale of a similar steady-state L-mode reactor of approximately 7.5 meters, half the size of HYPERION and only 20% larger than ITER. This minimum scale reactor would require an on-coil magnetic field of a 16 T and a blanket power density of ~ 5 MW/m 2 . It would produce 7 GWth of power with a power gain of 30, and it would operate far from all stability and confinement limits. To confirm the viability of this operating point, we perform various 1-D calculations. The crucial advantage of a steady-state (or fully non-inductive) reactor is that it is not limited by flux swing and can operate continuously, recharging its solenoid during operation. The crucial advantages of L-mode are that it avoids instabilities associated with edge localized modes (ELMs) and that it allows volumetric heating in the mantle due to the absence of a pedestal. Steady-state L-mode tokamak reactors could be the future of controlled fusion research and even play an important role in meeting the world's clean energy needs.
by Mark Reed.
S.B.
70 p.
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Physics.
A steady-state L-mode tokamak fusion reactor : large scale and minimum scale
Thesis
application/pdf
Publication
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<Abstract>We perform extensive analysis on the physics of L-mode tokamak fusion reactors to identify (1) a favorable parameter space for a large scale steady-state reactor and (2) an operating point for a minimum scale steady-state reactor. The identification of the large scale parameter space is part of the 2008 MIT Nuclear Systems Design Project, which also includes sustainability and economic optimizations to identify a plausible operating point for a large scale (a 14 m major radius) hydrogen production reactor dubbed HYPERION. Due to the potentially prohibitive capital cost (a $50 billion) and exorbitant thermal power (a 35 GWth) of HYPERION, we identify a conservative estimate for the minimum scale of a similar steady-state L-mode reactor of approximately 7.5 meters, half the size of HYPERION and only 20% larger than ITER. This minimum scale reactor would require an on-coil magnetic field of a 16 T and a blanket power density of ~ 5 MW/m 2 . It would produce 7 GWth of power with a power gain of 30, and it would operate far from all stability and confinement limits. To confirm the viability of this operating point, we perform various 1-D calculations. The crucial advantage of a steady-state (or fully non-inductive) reactor is that it is not limited by flux swing and can operate continuously, recharging its solenoid during operation. The crucial advantages of L-mode are that it avoids instabilities associated with edge localized modes (ELMs) and that it allows volumetric heating in the mantle due to the absence of a pedestal. Steady-state L-mode tokamak reactors could be the future of controlled fusion research and even play an important role in meeting the world's clean energy needs.</Abstract>
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