3 ms·
Lots of talk about shrinking the magnets required (which is a big part of ITER’s cost). Useful of course but the article doesn’t mention the big problems of neu
by cletus 6y ago
Lots of talk about shrinking the magnets required (which is a big part of ITER’s cost). Useful of course but the article doesn’t mention the big problems of neutron embrittlement.
- elihu 6y agoI think the idea (from a couple of videos of talks I've watched) is that in ARC they want to use magnet coils that are soldered so that about once a year or so they can heat the containment vessel and then the top opens like a lid and then replace the inner parts that are closest to the plasma and take the brunt of the neutrons. The containment vessel itself (and the coils I think) is protected somewhat from neutrons by a fluid (FLiBe) that absorbs the neutrons and convert it to heat (which is used to boil water and run a steam generator). They're also trying to figure out if there are some stainless steel alloys they can use for the containment vessel that are less reactive so that they have less of an issue with it turning radioactive. I don't think they're looking at solderable magnet coils for SPARC, since it's more of a prototyping platform and not something that's meant to run continuously for a long time.