San Diego-based General Atomics has already taken on a major role in the United States’ contribution to an international, multi-billion-dollar nuclear fusion experiment under construction in France. On Friday, the company announced it will do a little bit more. General Atomics won a contract to develop assemblies that will transmit microwave heating into the centerpiece of the project, called ITER.
Scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics, have solved a key challenge to maintaining density in the core of a fusion reactor without direct core fueling.
As the operator of the DIII-D National Fusion Facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, General Atomics has been a pioneer in fusion energy research for decades. As part of the Oak Ridge National Lab Hub, General Atomics is advancing computational chemistry techniques on IBM Q Network hardware in an effort to improve the understanding of plasma-facing materials within the extreme environment of fusion energy tokamaks.
Picture an airplane that can only climb to one or two altitudes after taking off. That limitation would be similar to the plight facing scientists who seek to avoid instabilities that restrict the path to clean, safe and abundant fusion energy (link is external) in doughnut-shaped tokamak (link is external) facilities. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and General Atomics (GA) have now published a breakthrough explanation of this tokamak restriction and how it may be overcome.
Using the power of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) the world’s highest-energy laser system, and targets manufactured by General Atomics, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and an international team of collaborators have developed an experimental capability for measuring the basic properties of matter, such as the equation of state (EOS), at the highest pressures thus far achieved in a controlled laboratory experiment. The results are relevant to the conditions at the cores of giant planets, the interiors of brown dwarfs (failed stars), the carbon envelopes of white dwarf stars and many applied science programs at LLNL.
The DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is the largest magnetic fusion research facility in the U.S. The mission of the DIII-D research program is to establish the scientific basis for the optimization of the tokamak approach to fusion energy production. The DIII-D program is a cornerstone element in the U.S.’s fusion program strategy. DIII-D research has delivered multiple innovations and scientific discoveries that have transformed the prospects for fusion energy.
Scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have for the first time studied the internal structure and stability of high-energy runaway electron (RE) beams in a tokamak. The scientists used hard X-ray radiation to study the RE beams. The finding could provide a way to control the damaging potential of RE beams. This could contribute to future power production using tokamak fusion power plants.
When British physicist Arthur Stanley Eddington first proposed in the 1920s that the sun and stars were powered by the fusion of hydrogen into helium, his idea sparked a rush of research and speculation into the possibility of bringing this energy source to earth. It was not long before journalists and pulp fiction authors were predicting a time, surely not far away, when the world would be powered by simple fusion reactors requiring nothing more than abundant hydrogen from water.
Practical, economic generation from fusion is not yet here, and it’s a solid bet that it will not arrive on the grid before the 2030s. Yet that reality is considerably closer than many people realize. As the result of decades of scientific advancement by the U.S. and other nations, most of the key physics questions behind fusion have been answered. Meanwhile, the first reactor that should achieve “burn”—that is, self-sustaining fusion—is currently under construction in France, with operations set to begin within the next few years.
Nuclear fusion’s energy potential is vast. Scientists believe it could, theoretically, lead to the construction of commercial power plants that would deliver virtually unlimited amounts of energy without leaving a trail of waste behind. But efforts to harness the technology have been exceedingly slow.
However, a small step forward has been made by scientists at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by San Diego-based General Atomics. Researchers conducted a first of its kind experiment focusing on a long-observed but little understood mechanism that can enhance the performance of fusion projects, including a multi-national and multi-billion dollar effort under construction in France.
Research into fusion energy has long been a driver of innovation in magnet technology. General Atomics (GA) has been developing HTS magnets based on REBCO conductor to advance the magnetic fusion energy development program in conjunction with operating the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego for the U.S. Department of Energy. Magnetic fusion devices require high magnetic fields, and it is believed by the fusion community that HTS magnets could significantly enhance performance characteristics while reducing both the size and cost of fusion devices, potentially including future fusion power plants.
Researchers at DIII-D, a Department of Energy user facility operated by General Atomics in San Diego, are working on ways to improve electron-cyclotron current drive (ECCD), which uses powerful microwaves to heat electrons in the plasma in a tokamak device. ECCD is important because it helps stabilize the plasma as the tokamak heats the plasma to temperatures necessary for fusion reactions.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists have employed compound parabolic targets manufactured by San Diego’s General Atomics to achieve relativistic effects associated with significantly greater laser intensities. This innovation has substantially expanded the experimental capabilities of the National Ignition Facility’s Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) laser.
A team of scientists—including Christopher Holland of theUniversity of California San Diego, Jeff Candy of General Atomics, and Nathan Howard of MIT—are using the world’s smartest and fastest supercomputer, the 200-petaflop IBM AC922 Summit system at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), to better understand turbulence, an important characteristic of plasma behavior that affects performance in fusion devices such as ITER.
https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/researchers-accelerate-plasma-turbulence-simulations-on-oak-ridge-supercomputers-to-improve-fusion-design-models/
Alex Nagy, an engineer who for four decades has been working on ways to heat and fuel plasmas in experiments aimed at harnessing the process that powers the sun and stars, was named a Distinguished Engineering Fellow by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on Dec. 20. Among numerous accomplishments, Nagy led a team of technicians and engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics (GA) to develop a steerable neutral beam as part of the DIII-D upgrade completed in 2018.
San Diego-based General Atomics is working to find an abundant source of energy without pollution or nuclear waste. The goal of this nuclear fusion program known as DIII-D is to harness a virtually inexhaustible source of energy that, theoretically, could supply electricity for power plants all over the world while emitting no carbon pollution or long-lived nuclear waste. And to help with that effort, the Department of Energy has given researchers a 5-year funding extension. Wayne Solomon, Deputy Director of DIII-D at General Atomics, was in studio to talk about it.
https://www.kusi.com/general-atomics-nuclear-fusion-program-diii-d-gets-doe-funding-extension/
Recently, researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by General Atomics in San Diego discovered a new way to eliminate magnetic islands in fusion plasmas, which are unstable structures within the magnetic fields that tear holes in the field and release energy from the plasma, stopping the fusion reaction. For future fusion power plants to produce electricity efficiently, the growth of magnetic islands must be prevented or eliminated.
Researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by General Atomics in San Diego have demonstrated a new approach for injecting microwaves into a fusion plasma that doubles the efficiency of a critical technique that could have major implications for future fusion reactors. The results show that launching the microwaves into the plasma via a novel geometry delivers substantial improvements in the plasma current drive.
A team at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility operated by General Atomics in San Diego recently took a different approach to studying fast ions, which can damage fusion tokamaks. The research showed promising results that have not only yielded insights into the physics of the particles themselves, but they may also lead to new and reliable ways to monitor and manage how well fast ions are contained in future reactors.
Energy Group Director of Business Development Zabrina Johal appeared on an episode of the Titans of Nuclear podcast to discuss her background as a nuclear engineering officer in the U.S. Navy and why nuclear fission and fusion are critical elements of the energy mix – and what we need to do make it happen.
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $14 million in funding for 10 university-led research projects using the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics in San Diego. A major goal of the research is to develop methods of sustaining steady-state or continuous operation of fusion reactors, an essential step toward eventually making nuclear fusion a practical energy source.
San Diego is known for many things – its climate, its beaches, its naval base. But there is a little-known industry in the region that seeks to change the future of humanity. All the stars in the universe rely on fusion, and San Diego has its own star in DIII-D at General Atomics: a donut-shaped chamber that heats matter to more than 100 million degrees. [In Spanish]
The energy potential for nuclear fusion has always been remarkably ambitious but progress has usually been painfully slow. But researchers and collaborators working on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility based at San Diego’s General Atomics have completed a series of successful experiments with an approach called “Super-H Mode” that has improved performance so dramatically they think it will accelerate the development of nuclear fusion reactors that could result, in theory, in a virtually limitless source of clean, carbon-free energy.
A plasma disruption can damage tokamak walls and other structures. Mitigating disruptions means injecting impurities into the plasma. The impurities radiate the plasma energy evenly around the tokamak as light. But how do you add impurities deeply into something so hot? A team at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics, devised a way to inject impurities deep into the plasma using thin-walled diamond shells that carry a payload of boron dust.
A team at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics, recently achieved high-pressure operation of a plasma configuration known as a reverse D. They did so while maintaining a low pressure, stable region near the plasma edge that was inherently free of reactor-damaging disruptions. Their work turned conventional wisdom about plasmas on its head.
After shutting down for 11 months for upgrades, an ambitious U.S. Department of Energy nuclear fusion program is about to resume conducting experiments at San Diego?s General Atomics. The DIII-D National Fusion Program looks to further developments in the decades-long quest to harness the vast potential of nuclear fusion for practical purposes, such as generating electricity at power plants.
The new technologies installed during the 11-month upgrade will play a key role in developing the scientific basis for fusion as a reliable and nearly limitless energy source. When experiments restart in early June, researchers will converge on San Diego to use these tools to optimize the performance of fusion plasmas and help bring practical fusion energy closer to realization.
To eight-year-old David Hill, the UFO-like top and spindly legs of the Space Needle looked like the future. Outside his suburban Seattle home, he'd climb trees to watch workers as they built the Space Needle in preparation for the 1962 World's Fair. When he saw the Needle finally completed, he felt like he was experiencing "tomorrow" right in the present day.
The next round of Discovery Science Program experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) will further explore plasma astrophysics, hydrodynamics, nuclear physics, equation of state, material science, and particle acceleration. One key effort will be examining Magnetized Rayleigh-Taylor morphology, under principal investigator Mario Manuel, a scientist with San Diego’s General Atomics. This will be the first Discovery Science experiment to use external magnetic field capabilities developed on NIF for magnetic laser inertial fusion and Discovery Science.
Experts at General Atomics have achieved a major improvement in processing speed for an important plasma physics code by working with experts from Nvidia to optimize it for operation on the latest GPU-based supercomputers. This three-fold increase in processing time for the latest CGYRO code, used to simulate turbulent behavior of confined plasmas, was made possible by acquiring hardware similar to that used in the Summit supercomputer now being developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Working on the system allowed GA researchers to test and validate their approach before deployment – an approach that could prove valuable for researchers in a variety of fields preparing for work on the next wave of supercomputing.
General Atomics Director of Business Development for the Energy Group Zabrina Johal talks about how her service as a nuclear-trained officer in the U.S. Navy prepared her for a career in the nuclear industry and helping GA innovate in advanced nuclear.
Researchers at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have demonstrated a revolutionary new technique to achieve "inside-out" cooling of fusion plasmas before a disruption occurs. The new approach transforms prospects for fusion energy by potentially solving three major problems—efficiently radiating away the plasma's heat, reducing forces by the plasma on the fusion device, and preventing the formation of energetic electron beams.
An international team at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility has developed a new way to suppress damaging waves in fusion plasmas using microwaves. The researchers believe the results can lead to the development of approaches to control or reduce the presence of waves in the magnetic fields and could help chart a path to more efficient fusion energy.
As the hubbub of interest and activity surrounds development of small modular reactors (SMRs) hovering between 60 MW and 300 MW, and medium-sized nuclear reactors of under 700 MW, several nuclear technology vendors including General Atomics have quietly been developing micro-reactors—which are of 10 MW or less.
Dr. Christina Back, General Atomics’ vice president for Nuclear Technologies and Materials, testified Sept. 13 before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works about the benefits of advanced nuclear technology, specifically accident tolerant fuel (ATF) for commercial nuclear reactors. Back discussed the need to efficiently review and license ATF concepts, such as the one GA is developing with Westinghouse that uses an innovative silicon-carbide cladding to help make reactors even safer and more economically competitive.
The testimony can be viewed here.
\nBefore scientists can capture and recreate the fusion process that powers the sun and stars to produce virtually limitless energy on Earth, they must first learn to control the hot plasma gas that fuels fusion reactions. In a set of recent experiments at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, operated by General Atomics for the DOE, scientists have tamed a plasma instability in a way that could lead to the efficient and steady state operation of ITER, the international experiment under construction in France to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power.
Naysayers are nothing new for General Atomics. While others say nuclear power is on the decline, the privately held company is betting on a vision of small reactors cooled by helium gas. It’s a long-term vision since GA’s reactor design is not ready for commercial use. In fact, a basic component of the reactor — uranium fuel rods made from a novel ceramic material rather than conventional materials — needs to be proven in the lab and cleared by federal regulators. That process will take several years.
Four researchers from San Diego-based General Atomics have received awards totaling $6.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue their work on harnessing the vast potential of nuclear fusion as a source of energy. In addition, DOE granted $7.8 million to eight researchers across the country to come to General Atomics to perform research at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility that houses what is called a “tokamak” — a doughnut-shaped fusion reactor that is crucial in the pursuit of making nuclear fusion work on a practical level. General Atomics operates the largest tokamak in the nation for the DOE.
Postdoctoral associate Cristina Rea at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) is exploring ways to predict disruptions in the turbulent plasma that fuels fusion tokamaks. Tokamaks use magnetic fields to contain hot plasma in a donut-shaped vacuum chamber long enough for fusion to occur. Chaotic and unpredictable, the plasma resists confinement, and disrupts. Timely predictions about incipient plasma disruptions could help sustain fusion energy production in these devices, while preventing damage to the machine. To tackle the issue, Rea is part of the PSFC’s collaboration with the DIII-D tokamak in San Diego, which, since the Center’s Alcator C-Mod device ended its run in September 2016, is the only fusion grade tokamak in the U.S. that is currently running.
Researchers in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Stable Isotope Group are accustomed to helping scientists identify solutions that optimize the design of their experiments and enable the novel use of isotopes. This division works closely with California-based General Atomics on a national fusion energy tokamak device called DIII-D, located in San Diego, and is collaborating with them on improving methods for tracing the erosion, transport, and re-deposition of tungsten (W) at the plasma material interface in the fusion reactor.
The U.S. is pouring funding into developing new fuel technology for advanced nuclear reactors in a bid to help the flagging industry. On April 27, it awarded General Atomics (GA) $3.2 million for two projects that the San Diego, California-based company is developing, including an accident tolerant fuel (ATF) solution that the company says is “truly revolutionary.”
A variety of ATF designs have been proposed by DOE-funded groups and other manufacturers. Both new fuel-rod cladding materials and new fuel types are under development, including an advanced silicon carbide (SiC) composite fuel-rod cladding being developed by General Atomics. This effort has the support of multiple stakeholders across the nuclear industry, from fuel suppliers and DOE national laboratories to the Electric Power Research Institute, utilities, and plant owners.
General Atomics has received two awards from the U.S. Department of Energy totaling more than $3.26 million to continue the San Diego-based company's work on developing new types of fuel for advanced nuclear reactors. The awards will go to two projects aimed at speeding the development and licensing of a reactor fuel that features silicon carbide composite fuel cladding that contains uranium carbide fuel pellets.
The development of fusion energy has led to many important spinoff technologies that are being used around the world, including the GA-developed Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which leveraged expertise from the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. The U.S. Navy is using EMALS on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and GA is under contract to deliver EMALS on all future Ford-class aircraft carriers.
Funding for research in nuclear fusion was fully restored by Congress in the omnibus spending bill, reversing what supporters feared might be declining interest in the research. An executive of General Atomics said during his March 6 testimony in Congress that he sensed a new attitude toward fusion science.
Theresa Wilks has come full circle, at least geographically. After receiving an MS and PhD from Georgia Tech, she returned to her home state of California in 2016 as an MIT postdoctoral associate doing fusion energy research at the DIII-D tokamak. Her research is part of a growing collaboration MIT has with DIII-D, a national user facility in San Diego operated by General Atomics.
After months of doubt, the federal government has agreed to boost 2018 funding for the U.S. share of the world’s largest and most ambitious nuclear fusion project. That means what may be the endeavor’s most important piece — a massive magnet being assembled by San Diego-based General Atomics — will continue this year without interruption.
Dr. Mickey Wade, director of advanced fusion systems, Magnetic Fusion Energy Division, for General Atomics, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy at a hearing on The Future of U.S. Fusion Energy Research.
GA’s participation was prominently featured in a March 3 San Diego Union-Tribune photo essay about the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering’s Expo Day at Petco Park. All the photos can be accessed here.
GA’s work fabricating the ITER Central Solenoid (CS) was featured in the San Diego Union Tribune, along with a discussion of the value of continued U.S. participation in ITER. GA is building the five-story, 1,000-ton CS, which will be the largest pulsed superconducting magnet when completed.
SAN DIEGO, CA – 08 January 2018 – The first module of the ITER Central Solenoid (CS) achieved an important milestone this month with the completion of insulation at General Atomics (GA) in California (US).
Technicians finished the ground insulation on the first production CS module – one of seven that will be produced – ensuring the module is isolated from a potential fault of up to 30,000 volts from other systems and components in the ITER cryostat.
The U.S. Department of Energy recently highlighted two papers on research conducted at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, both of which seek to advance our knowledge of fusion energy and how it could become a future energy source. In one, researchers explored a new approach that would reduce internal turbulence and heat loss in a tokamak reactor without rotation, a longstanding challenge that could help ease the way to energy production. In another, researchers used powerful microwave beams to control problematic Alfvén waves in plasmas
A team from GA's Inertial Fusion Energy group recently published a paper in Advanced Engineering Materials demonstrating a reactor to vapor coat surfaces with extremely thin adhesive layers to bond materials with sub-micron gaps. GA scientist Greg Randall was lead author on the paper, which was highlighted in Advanced Science News.
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a project to prove that fusion power can be produced on a commercial scale and is sustainable, is now 50% built to initial operation. ITER will use hydrogen fusion, controlled by a massive superconducting magnet being fabricated by General Atomics in San Diego, to produce heat energy. In the commercial machines that will follow, this heat will drive turbines to produce electricity.
Ryan Chaban, a 2016 Summer Science Undergraduate Laboratory Intern (SULI) at General Atomics in San Diego, has won the inaugural History of Physics Essay Contest held by the American Physical Society for his essay “Doublet Dudes: Shaping the Future of Fusion,” a history of the efforts of GA scientists Dr. Tihiro Ohkawa and Torkil Jensen in advancing the science of fusion plasmas.
General Atomics researcher Cami Collins is featured on a new podcast from KPBS called Rad Scientist. The series features researchers from the San Diego area talking about their work pushing the frontiers of human knowledge. Collins talks about her research exploring fusion energy at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility.
NNSA’s Nuclear Security Enterprise recently “sharpened its focus” on stockpile stewardship with a new and improved diagnostic capability, the Single Line-of-Sight Time-Resolved X-ray Imager (SLOS-TRXI) system. SLOS-TRXI is a joint project with General Atomics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.
A multi-organization partnership that included General Atomics has developed a new ultrafast diagnostic called the Single Line of Sight, or SLOS, camera that brings a 60-fold increase in full-frame shutter-speed capability to the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Researchers are hailing the new high-speed imaging technology as a much-anticipated breakthrough for high energy density and inertial confinement fusion experiments.
General Atomics is building the ITER Central Solenoid – the five-story, 1,000-ton magnet that will be at the center of the international fusion energy experiment being constructed in southern France. A recent video released by U.S. ITER shows how GA is supporting ITER, an unprecedented international collaboration of scientist and engineers working to design, construct and assemble a burning plasma experiment that can demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power.
The United States, along with 34 other nations, is making a massive investment in time and money to help to build a huge experimental nuclear fusion reactor in the south of France that bills itself as one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today – and General Atomics is a key member of the team making it happen.
Fast-gated imaging diagnostics are a key element of high-energy-density (HED) experiments in stockpile stewardship. GA scientists were part of a team that developed a new type of high-speed x-ray imager. This breakthrough sensor is capable of recording multiple frames with nanosecond separation and represents a 50-fold improvement in shutter speed over previous devices. Click here for more (PDF).
Recent technological advancements could turn environmentalists into huge fans of nuclear power, according to a nuclear physicist. Physicist Christina Back said her company General Atomics has developed nuclear fuel that can keep advanced nuclear power plants from melting down, which could largely address public fears about expanding the U.S. nuclear fleet.
As a physicist who has vested my career in energy research, the claim that nuclear energy will never be cost-effective is one I have heard countless times but refuse to believe. The importance of safe and efficient power generation to energy security — and national security — challenges me to push the boundaries of what is possible. Nuclear energy is by far the largest source of clean, non-intermittent electricity in the United States. We have more reactors than any other nation and produce over 25% of the global supply of nuclear power. But nuclear energy isn't just important to the U.S. — it also plays a critical role in energy markets around the world. As of 2015, 13 countries relied on nuclear energy to provide at least 25% of their electricity. One thing is clear: The world needs nuclear.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and General Atomics have simulated a mysterious self-organized flow of the superhot plasma that fuels fusion reactions. The findings show that pumping more heat into the core of the plasma can drive instabilities that create plasma rotation inside the doughnut-shaped tokamak that houses the hot charged gas.
Dr. Jeffrey Quintenz, Senior Vice President of General Atomics' Energy Group, released the following statement regarding the recent bankruptcy filing by Westinghouse. GA is working with Westinghouse in the development of Accident Tolerant Fuels.
Representatives from GA joined dozens of other scientists from around the world to share the latest research on fabricating targets for experiments on high-power, high-energy laser and pulsed-power facilities at the 22nd Target Fabrication Specialists Meeting co-hosted by LLNL.
Was one of the Physics of Plasmas’s top two most-read articles in the magnetically confined plasmas category in 2016.
A baker’s dozen of leading American nuclear energy companies will provide updates on their emerging advanced nuclear energy technologies at the fourth Advanced Reactors Technical Summit and Technology Trailblazers Showcase at Argonne National Laboratory on February 8-9, 2017.
To encourage and highlight opportunities for women in the sciences, the American Physical Society (APS) has created a series of Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP)
Module fabrication for the "heartbeat of ITER"—the 1,000-tonne central solenoid at the centre of the ITER magnet system—is underway at the General Atomics Magnet Development Facility in Poway, California.
for Most Outstanding Technology Development with Promising Commercial Potential
SAN DIEGO ? 13 October 2016 ? Researchers working at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics (GA) have created an important new tool for controlling energy-producing plasma in fusion devices. GA led the research in collaboration with scientists from the University of California-Irvine and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
In the release, San Diego-based General Atomics (GA) – a leading nuclear research company that manages the DIII-D fusion reactor and was recently featured at Top Fuel in Boise, Idaho – praises Secretary Moniz and the Board’s call for more funding to advance efforts in the nuclear energy space.
Two GA researchers have been recognized for their significant contributions to advancing the scientific quest for fusion, Joe Kilkenny and Michael Van Zeeland. They will receive their awards in Washington, D.C.
A stainless steel ball is supported by a thin sheet of plastic about 200 atoms thick. The plastic sheet was produced using a technology known as Polyelectrolyte Enabled Liftoff (PEEL), which was developed by LLNL researchers and General Atomics.
Christina A. Back, General Atomics’ Vice President, Nuclear Technologies and Materials Division, discusses the future of nuclear energy on the Neal Larson radio show.
Audio recording of Christina Back on the Neal Larson radio show
In the search for carbon-free sources of energy to power the 21st century, more and more people are considering advanced nuclear reactors, and the potential they offer.
As delays mount at large new nuclear power projects around the world, more attention is turning to smaller alternatives, which industry experts hope may help provide the next generation of electricity (PDF).
Central solenoid fabrication: a photo reportage
Inside of a purpose-built facility at General Atomics in California (US), ten customized workstations for central solenoid production—from winding through to final testing—have been built and are undergoing commissioning with a dummy coil. Winding was completed in April on the first 14-layer module.
The ITER central solenoid is the giant electromagnet at the centre of the ITER machine that will generate most of the magnetic flux charge of the plasma, initiating the initial plasma current and contributing to its maintenance. Six individual coil modules will be stacked vertically within a "cage" of supporting structures. General Atomics will also produce a seventh module as a spare.
As part of its in-kind contributions to ITER, the US is responsible for 100 percent of the central solenoid magnet, including design, R&D, module fabrication from conductor supplied by Japan, associated structure, assembly tooling, bus extensions, and cooling connections.
In the photo gallery below, follow the mock coil through the manufacturing workstations, and view the latest pictures of module 1 winding and magnet structure fabrication.
All photos courtesy of General Atomics unless otherwise indicated.
The scientists and engineers at General Atomics think the future of nuclear energy is coming on the back of a flatbed truck…
The scientists and engineers at General Atomics think the future of nuclear energy is coming on the back of a flatbed truck.
General Atomics teams up on the project to shorten the image time to the 20 picosecond range by...
A team of researchers from LLNL, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and General Atomics has conducted the first liquid deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel layer implosion at NIF using a “wetted-foam” target design.
Don't like much about LWRs,
\nMolten salt doesn't thrill me at all.
\nSodium makes me want to run,
\nBut helium looks cool.
\nI've seen what may be the future of civilian nuclear power, thanks to Dr. Christina Back at General Atomics in San Diego. I hope it works. It isn't going to be easy.
http://www.powermag.com/blog/what-a-wonderful-nuke-might-that-be/
Global demand for electricity will increase by 70% over the next 30 years, requiring a variety of cheap and clean technologies to meet that demand. Nuclear energy must be a significant portion of that energy mix, but it can't be unless we overcome the challenges nuclear electricity faces today: high electricity cost, safety concerns, waste issues, and proliferation fears.
\nhttp://community.energycentral.com/community/energybiz/better-tomorrow-brought-you-affordable-safe-nuclear-energy
The US Domestic Agency and vendor General Atomics completed a major milestone on 6 April by winding the first module for the ITER central solenoid. The feat was accomplished at the General Atomics Magnet Development Facility in Poway, California.
Organized by the Department of Commerce and the Organization of American States, the delegation consisted of more than 50 government and business leaders from Latin America and Asia who traveled to the U.S. to learn about innovation and entrepreneurship. They started their weeklong tour in Arizona and finished in San Diego. On the final day, the delegation listened to a panel with some of San Diego?s most prominent companies at U.S. Naval Base Point Loma. General Atomics, SYSTRAN, General Dynamics/NASSCO, and 5D Robotics discussed some of their international work and how the region?s defense ecosystem supports their companies? success.
\nhttps://youtu.be/4Rh4xugonrk?t=1m33s (Starts @ 1:33)
Big time fun with physics: General Atomics educational outreach program volunteers drew big crowds at the annual Science and Engineering Festival EXPO at Petco Park this weekend, with kid-friendly demonstrations for a crowd of more than 30,000 of the important work our Magnetic Fusion Energy program does in developing fusion as a new clean-energy source and deepening our understanding of the universe.
\nhttp://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2016/03/05/exploding-cucumbers-robot-cobras-welcome-to-petco-stem-fair/
\nhttp://www.cw6sandiego.com/video/cool-explosions/
\nhttp://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/05/science-engineering-festival-san-diego-petco-park/
The Inertial Fusion Technology Division of General Atomics is contributing to a breakthrough in fusion research by enabling the path of energy in fast ignition laser fusion targets to be "seen". The researchers published their findings online in the Jan. 11 issue of the journal Nature Physics.
Daring move for U.S.-China team:
\nhttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/aps-dmf111115.php
New pathway to power:
\nhttp://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/research-news/h-mode-another-step-on-the-road-to-fusion-power-2015-11/
KUSI TV highlights the Energy Group?s innovative technology to deliver an isotope that was facing critical shortage, in a landmark U.S.-Canada partnership
\nThe Department of Energy?s National Nuclear Security Administration has approved a cooperative agreement that enables development of a medical isotope used in approximately 80 percent of nuclear diagnostic imaging procedures in the United States, equating to about 50,000 medical procedures every day, and millions more per year. worldwide.
\nIgniting and sustaining the fusion of light nuclei requires an astonishingly high temperature, on the scale of 100 million kelvin. No material can tolerate such an environment, and for some 60 years scientists have been studying plasmas bound within a cage of magnets to insulate the walls of a reaction vessel from the intense heat inside it. Equally important, the confinement helps avoid cooling the bulk plasma to the point of quenching the reaction. (PDF)
General Atomics opened a facility making the world?s largest magnets for rare public tours on Friday in honor of the nationwide Manufacturing Day.
\n\nPreparing a unique fabrication line for the central solenoid modules. http://www.newswise.com/articles/building-the-heartbeat-of-iter
It's the world's most powerful superconducting magnet, providing the heart of a global scientific pursuit for a new clean power source in fusion energy. The public is invited to witness the General Atomics team fabricating the 1,000-ton ITER Central Solenoid at 11 am and 1 pm. at during GA?s participation in the national Manufacturing Day on Oct. 2.
http://www.mfgday.com/events?country=US&state=CA&city=Poway#filter
Scientists from General Atomics and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have discovered a phenomenon that helps them to improve fusion plasmas Click here?for more info.
\nSee the complete hearing from the House of Representatives Energy Subcommittee on Nuclear Energy Innovation, and GA?s Dr. John A. Parmentola advocating for advancing U.S. nuclear energy test capabilities:
\n\nCongressional testimony from GA?s Dr. John A. Parmentola regarding imperative for the U.S to build a new test facility, to develop advanced reactor research and development ?It could lead to the development of nuclear reactors that: will have much improved economics; would have improved safety ? and will produce much less waste, and reduce proliferation risk,? Parmentola testified before the House Energy Subcommittee as one of four experts discussing Nuclear Energy Innovations and the National Laboratories. (PDF)
\n"Right now, nuclear has remained stagnant because the research is lacking," said John Parmentola, senior vice president of energy and advanced concepts at General Atomics, during the Energy Subcommittee hearing. (PDF)
In National Ignition Facility (NIF) inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments, the fusion fuel implodes at a high speed in reaction to the rapid ablation, or blow-off, of the outer layers of the target capsule. To reach the conditions needed for ignition, the fuel must implode symmetrically at a peak velocity of about 350 kilometers per second? without producing hydrodynamic instabilities that can dampen the fusion reactions. Click here for more.
\nTIMES OF SAN DIEGO ? ?Developing reliable fusion reactors would provide virtually limitless, environmentally friendly power on Earth. Fusion converts hydrogen from water directly into energy, but takes place at temperatures found only in the sun, creating an enormous engineering challenge.?http://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2015/04/10/general-atomics-giant-magnet-will-enable-fusion-on-earth/
\nSAN DIEGO/6 ???Scientists say fusion energy can outdo chemistry, even outdo the sun and provide clean energy on earth. General Atomics is part of the largest experiment in human history...?http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/Mimic-the-sun-bottle-that-energy-and-put-it-to-good-use-299411581.html
\nKFMB/8 ? ??Powerful enough to lift an aircraft carrier right of the water, designed to bring the power of the sun down to earth and create a new energy source without toxic waste?the objective of fusion is to give the planet a sustainable clean energy soruce that would last the world for tens of thousands of years.?http://www.cbs8.com/story/28773000/worlds-most-powerful-electromagnet-unveiled
\nUT San Diego ? There are great challenges to overcome ? as well as great potential benefits?Researchers have found that the energy released by fusing atoms together can be up to four times greater than fission, where atoms are split apart.?http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/apr/11/fusion-reactor-atomics/
\nKPBS ? ?there?s no carbon, so it?s a very clean source of energy and it?s almost completely renewable??http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/apr/10/could-giant-magnet-help-power-world/
\nGeneral Atomics? Giant Magnet Will Enable Fusion on Earth Read full article here.
\nNirvana proven in cost-effectively managing and ensuring continued access to valuable data critical to driving results and new discovery. Watch here.
\nThe Obama administration is looking to develop more efficient nuclear power facilities. Read full article here.
\nA panel of nuclear energy experts agreed Sept. 17 that a new test reactor capable of studying high temperature materials and new reactor designs in the U.S. would go a long way toward advancing the industry.?Read full article here.
\nGA?s Energy and Advanced Concepts Group has been developing algae production technologies since 2005, and these efforts have resulted in the development of a low-cost, massively scalable, end-to-end algae growth platform, including a library of proprietary algae strains. Read full article here.
Tune into the cutting edge in fusion: GA?s fusion energy programs are featured in televised webcast from PBS-affiliate KPCC-Southern California radio. It?s 90 minutes of in-depth coverage on the status and promise of fusion energy, with John Parmentola, GA?s Senior Vice President for Energy and Advanced Concepts. Watch here.
\nInternal transport barriers have helped confine ions in fusion machines since the 1990s. But how do they really work?
\n\nThe fusion of nuclei generates prodigious amounts of energy, as in the Sun's core. Harnessing that energy is the primary goal of researchers who work on tokamaks?large toroidal machines in which a plasma can be confined by magnetic fields and held at high enough temperatures and densities to engender fusion.
\n\n\nIt is generally acknowledged that the future of nuclear power, with all of its low carbon virtues, will rely on the emergence of small reactors that greatly reduce costs and increase deployment opportunities. Reactors that manufacturers can produce in assembly-line fashion and transport to their destination on trucks will allow utilities and other users to purchase capacity in affordable chunks, rather than requiring them to spend the roughly $10 billion that today's large reactors require.
\nLIVERMORE, Calif. ? Fusion, the process that powers the sun, is the forever dream of energy scientists ? safe, nonpolluting and almost boundless. Even here at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the primary focus of fusion work involves nuclear weapons, many scientists talk poetically about how it could end the world?s addiction to fossil fuels.
\n\nAn audacious plan to create a new energy source could save the planet from catastrophe. But time is running out.
\nhttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/03/03/140303fa_fact_khatchadourian?currentPage=all
\nThe EMALS contract confirmed General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group (GA-EMS) is world-class developer of high power, state-of-the-art controlled power magnetic components and systems.
\nhttp://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories3175_R_Scott_Forney_III.htm
\nGeneral Atomics, like most private companies in the defense sector, doesn?t disclose its company R&D spending, either as a gross number or as percentage of sales. But the company is committed to keeping R&D spending strong...
http://www.defensenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013311170008
Dr. John Parmentola, Senior Vice President and a physicist, displays GA's breakthrough technology to KGTV-10 News Sept. 12, 2013.
\nThe Christian Science Monitor ? The days of the behemoth nuclear plants may be numbered, King writes. There is a movement to design and build smaller nuclear reactors that are more affordable and flexible.
\nGeneral Atomics has applied for DOE funds to commercialize a nuclear reactor that could lower electricity costs by 40 percent.
\nhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/518116/a-nuclear-reactor-competitive-with-natural-gas/
Musk -- the co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors -- unveiled Hyperloop, a transportation system that combines aspects of a subway, an air hockey table, and waves breaking on a beach.
\n\nWe chat about alternative SMR options for the US with John Parmentola, Senior Vice President of the Energy and Advanced Concepts Group at General Atomics, a US-based technology firm with more than 50 years? experience in fusion, fission and gas-cooled reactor technology.
\nNuclear power ought to have everything going for it. It has worked extremely well for more than 60 years ? a fact that will be celebrated at the Nuclear Energy Institute?s annual meeting in Washington this week.
\nhttp://www.whchronicle.com/2013/05/how-to-move-the-nuclear-project-forward/
JENKINS: Hot young prospect to replace old San Onofre reactors
\nhttp://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/10/san-onofre-nuclear-reactors-general-atomics/
www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/10/a-global-quest-to-test-the-feasibility-of-fusion/
General Atomics is working on a new paradigm that would drive down the cost of nuclear power by 30 percent, and solve some of the safety issues that plague nuclear power today.
\nhttp://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/may/21/better-nuclear-power-plant
They have been promised for decades, but is it now finally the time for magnetic levitation (maglev) trains to hit the mainstream?
\nhttp://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120504-the-floating-future-of-trains
\nYears before the safety of nuclear reactors was jeopardized by the devastating hydrogen explosion at Fukushima, U.S. scientists successfully developed revolutionary technology that promises to create safe, clean and virtually unlimited electrical power.
\nhttp://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/11/tp-technology-can-solve-americas-energy-crisis/?page=1
A San Diego defense contractor has come up with an early design for a compact commercial nuclear reactor that aims to generate power using the nation?s stockpile of spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear waste.?
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/24/company-has-plan-for-small-reactors/
Today, due partly to the high capital cost of large power reactors generating electricity via the steam cycle and partly to the need to service small electricity grids under about 4 GWe,b there is a move to develop smaller units.
\nNuclear and defense supplier General Atomics announced Sunday it will launch a 12-year program to develop a new kind of small, commercial nuclear reactor in the U.S. that could run on spent fuel from big reactors.
\nhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791504575079370538466574.html
\nThe Navy set a new world record for the most powerful electromagnetic railgun when it fired a test shot here Thursday morning.
\nThe Navy has begun developing a futuristic ?hypercannon? that could someday hit a target more than 200 miles away, using technology that may be more familiar to students of science fiction than modern naval weaponry.
\nThe U.S. Navy said it generated on Thursday the strongest-ever force of its kind used to fire a futuristic weapon designed to boost naval gunfire range more than 10 times by 2020.
\nClick here for the PDF
With airports and highways more congested than ever, new steel-wheel and maglev lines that move millions in Europe and Japan have the potential to resurrect the age of American railroads.
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