4 ms·
To me it looks like alien technology. Such an organic shape. So many valves an openings. What is their purpose? How deliberate is their placement? Awe-inspiring
by Tade0 6y ago
To me it looks like alien technology. Such an organic shape. So many valves an openings. What is their purpose? How deliberate is their placement? Awe-inspiring.
- sam 6y agoMost of the ports are used for diagnostic equipment, things like laser interferometers to measure plasma density or other devices to measure plasma temperatures. Also some ports are used to inject neutral beams for heating.
- 7373737373 6y agoVery negative take here: To me it looks like premature optimization, some politicians, mathematicians or engineers wet dream, a design that by today is probably known to be suboptimal, that probably caused millions if not billions of euros of unexpected costs, and tens of thousands of hours of migraine for the people who actually have to run and maintain the thing
- Fordec 6y agoLiterally the primary goal is optimising the technology enough to get more energy out than energy in. Without that singular goal achieved the field has no purpose at all. It's not like theres already workable systems and they're just focusing on pushing the levels a step further just because.
- MauranKilom 6y agoThis design overcomes one of the fundamental problems with the Tokamak style fusion reactors. It's like choosing quick sort over bubble sort. And yes, the difference here matters.
- the8472 6y agoIt is a research reactor, so most of the openings are for instrumentation and ease of upgrades. A production design would have fewer ports.
- joncrane 6y agoTo add to the others' responses on the purposes of ports, many of them are essentially vacuum pumps to maintain the near-perfect vacuum required for fusion to work.