Alpha-driven microinstability in tandem mirror plasma

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5706282

Ho, S K; Miley, G H; Smith, G R; Nevins, W M

Alpha particles born at deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion are mirror confined in the tandem mirror with a loss-cone-type distribution in the velocity space. The anisotropy created is susceptible to microinstabilities and the objective of this work is to study possible instabilities that can be driven by the alpha loss-cone. The low-frequency (at the order of the ion cyclotron frequency) wave spectrum is examined to seek the waves that can be destabilized by the alphas. A marginal stability boundary in ion density-temperature space is found. To examine reactor implications, we have calculated the stability boundary for the cases of the MARS and MINIMARS parameters. The operating regime for both cases is found to be unstable. This could be a key problem for reactor operation and deserves more study.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Illinois, Chicago
• OSTI ID: 5706282
• Report Number(s): CONF-860610-; TRN: 88-008011
• Journal Information: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States), Vol. 52; Conference: American Nuclear Society annual meeting, Reno, NV, USA, 15 Jun 1986
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
TANDEM MIRRORS
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES
ALPHA PARTICLES
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
ION DENSITY
MARS REACTOR
MINIMARS REACTOR
REACTOR OPERATION
TIME DEPENDENCE
CHARGED PARTICLES
INSTABILITY
MAGNETIC MIRROR TYPE REACTORS
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
OPERATION
PLASMA INSTABILITY
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
700107* - Fusion Energy- Plasma Research- Instabilities