National Spherical Torus Experiment
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| Type | Spherical tokamak |
|---|---|
| Operation date | 1999– |
| Major radius | 0.85 m |
| Minor Radius | 0.68 m |
| Magnetic field | 0.3 T |
| Heating | 11 MW |
| Plasma current | 1.4 MA |
The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is an innovative magnetic fusion device based on the spherical tokamak concept. It was constructed by the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Columbia University, and the University of Washington at Seattle.
The spherical tokamak (ST) is an offshoot of the conventional tokamak design. Proponents claim that it has a number of practical advantages over these devices, some of them dramatic. For this reason the ST has seen considerable interest since it was proposed in the late 1980s. However, development remains effectively one generation behind mainline efforts such as JET. Other major experiments in the field include the pioneering START and MAST at Culham in the UK.
NSTX studies the physics principles of spherically shaped plasmas—hot ionized gases in which nuclear fusion will occur under the appropriate conditions of temperature and density, which are produced by confinement in a magnetic field.
First plasma was obtained on NSTX on Friday, February 12, 1999 at 6:06 p.m.
Magnetic fusion experiments use plasmas composed of one or more hydrogen isotopes. For example, in 1994, PPPL's Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) produced a world-record 10.7 megawatts of fusion power from a plasma composed of equal parts of deuterium and tritium, a fuel mix likely to be used in commercial fusion power reactors. NSTX was a "proof of principle" experiment and therefore employed deuterium plasmas only. If successful it was to be followed by similar devices, eventually including a demonstration power reactor (eg. ITER), burning deuterium-tritium fuel.
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