The development of controlled thermonuclear fusion (CTF) has reached the stage when experimental thermonuclear reactor projects are starting to appear in the world. These installations can be based on closed or open magnetic systems (magnetic traps). Scientists at the Institute of Nuclear Physics SB RAS (INP) are conducting research in the field of thermonuclear fusion, including on the Compact axisymmetric toroid (COT). Konstantin Kolesnichenko, MA student at the NSU Department of Physics and Senior Laboratory Assistant INP, received a GI Budker scholarship for his work at the Institute improving the plasma parameters. In the near future, this will make it possible for physicists to achieve the required target plasma temperature and begin full-scale research.
Kolesnichenko described his work,
COT is an axially symmetric mirror cell with powerful atomic injection. This open trap is characterized by the fact that it is possible to operate on it confining a plasma with a very high relative pressure β (ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic field pressure). This parameter is a characteristic of the efficiency of the use of the magnetic field and must be greater than or equal to one. Our research will help experimentally verify the theoretical work on plasma physics proposed at the Institute. For example, the possibility of creating a region inside the plasma with an almost zero magnetic field. The theory predicts that a zero magnetic field, or a magnetic bubble, created inside the plasma will increase the plasma confinement time inside an open trap, reducing longitudinal losses. We will be able to check this in our experiments.
Under certain conditions, the magnetic field in the COT reverses in the direction of the external magnetic field and closes in on itself, forming a system similar to a tokamak. In this case, energy and substance losses along the installation axis are minimized. The resulting plasma state is called FRC (Field-Reversed Configuration). To work in this mode, researchers need to create a relatively hot (30-50 electron volts) target plasma. This is what Kolesnichenko has achieved.
The scientist explained that as soon as the researchers reach the required temperature of 30-50 eV, they will move on to full-scale work with plasma with β close to unity. And, if relatively new plasma confinement methods (vortex confinement, confinement with a conducting wall, etc.) work effectively under these conditions, they can be used in the design of the Gas-Dynamic Multiple-mirror Trap (GDML). According to plans, this will demonstrate the possibility of designing a compact, cost-effective, and environmentally attractive thermonuclear reactor based on open-type magnetic traps.
