Photo Credit above: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel & Realta Fusion
Text Credit Below: Wisconsin Plasma Physics Laboratory
A public-private partnership between the UW Madison, MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems has been formed to build and operate a compact, high-field simple mirror WHAM (the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror) showing how compact end plugs can now be built for axisymmetric tandem mirrors. It builds on recent physics breakthroughs in stability and confinement, critical technological advances in superconductivity, and the availability of high power reactor relevant heating systems. Two mirror coils will be constructed using REBCO high temperature superconducting material by CFS (17 T mirrors). Hot and high density target plasmas will be created using high frequency ECH from modern gyrotrons. Fast sloshing ions will be created and energized by a novel RF heating scenario in which neutral beam injection is used to fuel ions which are then accelerated in situ to high energy by High Harmonic Fast Wave. Quasi-stationary plasmas (plasma duration >> ion slowing down and characteristic confinement times) will be created with electron temperatures of 1 keV, average ion energies of 20 keV and a densities that that approach the plasma pressure limit. The end product will be a realistic conceptual design of a low cost ($100M) Break Even Axisymmetric Tandem (BEAT). Finally, several lucrative off-ramps for this research have been identified that would lead to fusion neutron sources useful for academic and industrial purposes that may help accelerate progress towards fusion energy by stimulating additional investment.