Theoretical Aspects of Spheromaks

Principal Investigators: Morse, Fowler (Emeritus)

The spheromak is a very compact
magnetic configuration to confine hot plasmas in a fusion reactor,
but one at very early stages of development. Recent theoretical
work suggests that energy confinement in spheromaks is far better
than previously believed. Experiments on the SSPX spheromak at Livermore
are addressing this and other questions about spheromaks. Recent
studies indicate that the “nuclear island” cost for
a spheromak fusion reactor would be much less than that for the
tokamak concept that is the mainline research effort today.