Description:

Criteria for fusion ignition, fusion in stars, priniciples of plasma confinement in magnetic field (mirrors, pinches, stellarators, tokamaks), principles of inertial plasma confinement, alternative concepts, present fusion research facilities and project (including ITER), plasma heating and control, fusion technology, future fusion power plants

Contents:

1) Fusion reactions in the framework of nuclear physics
2) Thermonuclear fusion reactions in stars, gravitational confinement, life cycles of stars, nucleosynthesis
3) Conditions for fusion ingition on the Earth, Lawson criterion, triple product.
4) History and knowledge of hydrogen bombs based on backengineering.
5) Introduction to inertial confinement of fusion plasmas.
6) Introduction to magnetic confinement I: Pulsed and equilibrium systems. Open systems, instabilities and problems of the end losses.
7) Introduction to magnetic confinement of plasmas II: Closed systems, instabilities and anomalous diffusion.
8) Alternative attempts towards mastering the fusion power. Muon catalysis, "cold fusion", "bubble fusion" etc
9) Experimental facilities: Tokamaks including the ITER project, Stellarators, pinches and other magnetic confinement facilities. Tokamak control.
10) Heating of the high-temperature plasmas, real-time control
11) Diagnostics of the high-temperature plasmas, safety and security
12) Fusion technology and future fusion power plant: overview of main missions in the present research

Seminar contents:

1)Fusion reactions in the framework of nuclear physics
2)Thermonuclear fusion reactions in stars, gravitational confinement, life cycles of stars, nucleosynthesis
3)Conditions for fusion ingition on the Earth. Hydrogen bombs.
4)Principles of magnetic confinement: Pulsed and equilibrium systems. Open systems, instabilities and problems of the end losses.
5)Principles of magnetic confinement of plasmas: Closed systems, instabilities and anomalous diffusion.
6)Principles of inertial confinement of fusion plasmas.
7)Alternative attempts towards mastering the fusion power. Muon catalysis, "cold fusion", "bubble fusion" etc
8)Experimental facilities: Tokamaks including the ITER project
9)Experimental facilities: Stellarators, pinches and other magnetic confinement facilities
10)Heating of the high-temperature plasmas
11)Control and diagnostics of the high-temperature plasmas
12)Experimental facilities: Inertial fusion
13)Fusion technology: overview of main missions in the present research
14)Fusion power plant.

Recommended literature:

Key references:
[1] G McCracken, P E Stott: Fusion - the energy of the universe, 2nd edtition. Elsevier 2012 ISBN 9780123846563
[2] C M Braams, P E Stott: Nuclear Fusion, Half a Century of Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research, IoP 2002, ISBN 0750307056

Recommended references:
[3] J. Scheffel and P. Brunsell, Fusion Physics ? introduction to the physics behind fusion energy, KTH Stockholm 2007
[4] A A Harms et al: Principles of Fusion Energy, World Scientific Publ. 2000, ISBN 981-02-4335-9

Keywords:

energy, nuclear reactions, plasma, inertial confinement, magnetic confinement, pinch, tokamak, stellarator, plasma heating, plasma control, technology, power production

Abbreviations used:

Semester:

• W ... winter semester (usually October - February)
• S ... spring semester (usually March - June)
• W,S ... both semesters

Mode of completion of the course:

• A ... Assessment (no grade is given to this course but credits are awarded. You will receive only P (Passed) of F (Failed) and number of credits)
• GA ... Graded Assessment (a grade is awarded for this course)
• EX ... Examination (a grade is awarded for this course)
• A, EX ... Examination (the award of Assessment is a precondition for taking the Examination in the given subject, a grade is awarded for this course)

Weekly load (hours per week):

• P ... lecture
• C ... seminar
• L ... laboratory
• R ... proseminar
• S ... seminar