tokamak
Sign in to saveA tokamak (; ) is a machine which uses a powerful magnetic field generated by external magnets to confine plasma in the shape of an axially symmetrical torus. The tokamak is the leading candidate of magnetic confinement fusion designs being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power.
AI overview
A tokamak is a machine that uses strong magnetic fields to trap extremely hot plasma in a donut-shaped container, keeping it stable and confined. Scientists are pursuing tokamaks as the most promising approach for developing fusion power plants that could generate clean, abundant energy.
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Article
42 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- First steps
- Lavrentiev's letter
- Magnetic confinement
- Richter and the birth of fusion research
- New ideas
- Instability
- Steps toward declassification
- First tokamaks
- Atoms for Peace and the doldrums
- Progress in the 1960s
- Culham Five
- US turmoil
- Tokamak race in the US
- Heating: US takes the lead
- 1980s: great hope, great disappointment
- ITER
- High Field Tokamaks
- Design
- Basic problem
- Tokamak solution
- Other issues
- Breakeven, ''Q'', and ignition
- Advanced tokamaks
- Plasma disruptions
- Plasma heating
- Ohmic heating ~ inductive mode
- Magnetic compression
- Neutral-beam injection
- Radio-frequency heating
- Particle inventory
- Experimental tokamaks
- Currently in operation
- Previously operated
- Planned
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- External links
A tokamak (; ) is a machine which uses a powerful magnetic field generated by external magnets to confine plasma in the shape of an axially symmetrical torus. The tokamak is the leading candidate of magnetic confinement fusion designs being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power.
Tokamaks use a combination of a central solenoid and toroidal and poloidal magnets to shape a ring of plasma. This is heated by a range of methods, including neutral-beam injection, electron and ion cyclotron resonance, lower hybrid resonance. Nuclear fusion may be achieved, measured by neutron detectors. Due to requiring a continuously changing magnetic field, modern tokamaks sustain "plasma discharges" on the timescales of seconds or minutes.