Alpha particle confinement in tandem mirrors

Conference · Fri Oct 10 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:6923659

Devoto, R S; Ohnishi, M; Kerns, J; Woo, J T

Mechanisms leading to loss of alpha particles from non-axisymmetric tandem mirrors are considered. Stochastic diffusion due to bounce-drift resonances, which can cause rapid radial losses of high-energy alpha particles, can be suppressed by imposing a 20% rise in axisymmetric fields before the quadrupole transition sections. Alpha particles should then be well-confined until thermal energies when they enter the resonant plateau require. A fast code for computation of drift behavior in reactors is described. Sample calculations are presented for resonant particles in a proposed coil set for the Tandem Mirror Next Step.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore National Lab.; Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6923659
• Report Number(s): UCRL-84282; CONF-801011-34
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700105* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Plasma Kinetics-Theoretical-- (-1987)
ALPHA PARTICLES
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
COLLISIONS
CONFINEMENT
DIFFUSION
INSTABILITY
LOSS CONE INSTABILITY
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES
RADIATION TRANSPORT
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
TMX DEVICES