Page 9 - Fundamentals of Magnetic Thermonuclear Reactor Design

Preface

Among neologisms that have been coined so profusely in the past few de-
cades, the word ‘tokamak’, a Russian acronym for ‘toroidal chamber with mag-
netic coils’, is increasingly gaining prominence. It is becoming popular among
professions as varied as physicists and diplomats, engineers and politicians,
ecologists and economists. The term is not foreign to students of engineering
and physical sciences, readers and viewers of media items and internet addicts.
The reason is simple. Today the tokamak embodies one of the most promising
energy sources for the future, the controlled thermonuclear fusion (CTF) that
involves the heating and magnetic confinement of hydrogen plasma. In other
words, the tokamak is a magnetic thermonuclear reactor.
It would be a mistake to believe that scientists, engineers, public activists
and political leaders unanimously recognise CTF as a leading energy concept
for the future. CTF opponents are sceptical because of not only the new energy
source’s long ‘incubation’ period, but also because of the host of physical and
engineering challenges that have to be tackled on the road to the thermonuclear
El Dorado. Some believe in alternatives. However, in our view, the interna-
tional community is nowadays apt to adopt the following triune paradigm:
• Controlled fusion is a globally attractive concept, offering great promise for
the future: huge supplies of energy made from effectively unlimited fuels.
Fuel for thermonuclear reactors can be extracted from the ocean and, in a
later term, perhaps, from the Moon and the boundless space.
• The CTF potential should be realised in harmony with other energy sources,
particularly renewable and nuclear options.
• The current scientific and historical imperative is to look for CTF tech-
nologies that ensure socially affordable environmental safety and cost
effectiveness. An optimal solution, perhaps, is a fusion–fission hybrid reac-
tor generating power by use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission
processes in a common power facility.
The basic concept of a fusion reactor with magnetic plasma confinement is
simple enough. It is premised on the fact that a fusion reaction is ignited in hot
hydrogen plasmas and the ability of charged particles to move anisotropically
along and across magnetic field lines. However, its implementation is no easy
task for scientists and engineers.
Without going into detailed—and full of hidden drama—chronicles of
nuclear fusion research, let us highlight some points.

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