NE 180 - INTRODUCTION TO CONTROLLED FUSION (3 units)

Introduction to energy production by controlled thermonuclear reactions. Nuclear fusion reactions, energy balances for fusion systems, survey of plasma physics, neutral beam injection, RF heating methods, vacuum systems, tritium handling. (Fall) Morse

Catalog Description

• 180. Introduction to energy production by controlled
  thermonuclear reactions. Nuclear fusion reactions, energy balances
  for fusion systems, survey of plasma physics; neutral beam injection,
  RF heating methods, vacuum systems, tritium handling.

Course Prerequisite

• Physics 7C

Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills

The course uses the following knowledge and
skills from prerequisite and lower-division courses:

• be familiar with unit conversions, e. g. eV
  to J, amu to kg, etc.
• use Maxwell�s equations in vector form
• calculate reaction rates using cross sections

Textbook(s) and/or other required material

• Fusion Research, Vol. 1, by T. Dolan, Pergamon
  Press, 1982

Course objectives and outcomes

Course Objectives: It is the instructor's
intention to...

• familiarize students with the basic possibilities
  for energy production by fusion reactions
• show how energy production and loss processes
  work in a plasma
• illustrate various magnetic and inertial fusion
  confinement schemes and describe the physical basis for them
• show the necessary technological elements
  of fusion reactors and areas of current problems in their
  development

  Course Outcomes: Students must be able
  to...

• perform energy balance calculations for fusion
  systems with various heating and energy recovery systems
• solve MHD plasma equilibrium equations for
  simple confinement geometries
• analyze material constraints on proposed fusion
  reactor schemes
• calculate radiation loss from plasmas with
  impurities
• calculate reactor size for breakeven using
  various transport scaling laws
• understand differences between the various
  alternative fusion confinement schemes
• perform simple calculations for waveguides
  and transmission lines for RF heating systems
• understand differences in various driver schemes
  for inertial confinement fusion
• understand the requirements for safe handling
  of tritium at fusion reactor sites

Topics covered

• Cross Sections
• Confinement Concepts
• Lawson Criterion
• Bremsstrahlung
• Atomic Physics
• MHD equilibrium
• MHD Stability
• Inertial Confinement
• Lasers
• Magnetic Fusion heating systems
• Vacuum systems
• Tritium handling
• Superconducting magnets

Class/laboratory schedule

• This is primarily a lecture course, meeting three
  times a week for 50-minute lectures.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional
component

• This course contributes primarily to the students'
  knowledge of engineering topics, and does provide design experience.
• The course provides basic knowledge for those nuclear
  engineers who will work in the field of fusion energy development.
  It stresses the basic physical and technological concepts which
  are used in development of future fusion power systems.

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree
program objectives

• This course primarily serves students in the department.
  The information below describes how the course contributes to
  the undergraduate program objectives.
• This course contributes to the undergraduate curriculum
  as an elective course providing background in a number of subject
  areas of interest to those interested in a career in fusion research.
  It complements courses in the fission power area by showing the
  common denominator of heat transfer and neutronics involved in
  nuclear power plant construction.

Assessment of student progress toward course objectives

• Bi-weekly problem sets: 20%
• Two midterm Exams 20% (each)
• Final Exam: 40%