T-15 (reactor)
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The T-15 (or Tokamak-15) is a Russian (previously Soviet)
nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...
research reactor located at the
Kurchatov Institute The Kurchatov Institute (, National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute") is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear power, nuclear energy. It is named after Igor Kurchatov and is located at 1 Kurchatov Sq ...
, which is based on the (Soviet-invented)
tokamak A tokamak (; ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field generated by external magnets to confine plasma (physics), plasma in the shape of an axially symmetrical torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement fusi ...
design. It was the first industrial prototype fusion reactor to use
superconducting Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases g ...
magnets to control the plasma. These enormous superconducting magnets confined the plasma the reactor produced, but failed to sustain it for more than just a few seconds. Despite not being immediately applicable, this new technological advancement proved to the USSR that they were on the right path. In the original (circular cross-section with
limiter In electronics, a limiter is a circuit that allows signals below a specified input power or level to pass unaffected while attenuating (lowering) the peaks of stronger signals that exceed this threshold. Limiting is a type of dynamic range co ...
) shape, a toroidal chamber design, it had a major radius of and minor radius . The T-15 achieved creating its first thermonuclear plasma in 1988 and the reactor remained operational until 1995. The plasma created was thought to solve a number of issues engineers have struggled with in the past. This combined with the USSR's desire for cheaper energy ensured the continuing progress of the T-15 under Mikhail S. Gorbachev. It was designed to replace the country's use of gas and coal as the primary sources of energy. It achieved and injection for 1 second pulse. It carried out about 100 shots before closing (in 1995) due to a lack of funds.
The Second Life of Tokamak T-15, Iter newsline, 5 November 2010


1996 upgrade

From 1996 to 1998 a series of upgrades were made to the reactor, in order to conduct preliminary research for the design work on the
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process s ...
or ITER. One of the upgrades converted the tokamak to a D-shape divertor design with a major plasma radius of . ITER will also use superconducting magnets. The nuclear predecessors before such as the T-10 were capable of reaching plasma temperature. This increased temperature made it possible to introduce the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR), ion cyclotron resonance (ICR), and neutral atoms, as to maintain the reactions.


Upgrade to T-15MD

In the year 2010 it was decided to upgrade the reactor. The upgraded machine is called T-15MD. On the basis of the T-15 there will be created a
nuclear fusion–fission hybrid Hybrid nuclear fusion–fission (hybrid nuclear power) is a proposed means of generating power by use of a combination of nuclear fusion and fission processes. The basic idea is to use high-energy fast neutrons from a fusion reactor to trigger ...
reactor, intended to use the neutrons generated by a core fusion reactor component to incite fission in otherwise nonfissile fuels, and to explore the feasibility of such a system for power generation. Assembly of the magnetic coils was finished in August 2019. As of early 2020 the status of construction was reported as "entering the final phase". At the end of 2020, preparations for the physical start-up of T-15MD were completed. The physical launch took place in May 2021 and further hardware upgrades are planned until 2024. T-15MD has a major radius ''R'' =  and a minor radius ''a'' = . The toroidal magnetic field is , produced by ordinary conducting coils. The intended plasma current is , which is planned to be sustained for with neutral particle injection and microwaves, and without using inductive current drive.


References


Further reading

*Josephson, P. R. (2000). Red atom: Russia's nuclear power program from Stalin to today. New York: W.H. Freeman. *Effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident on Utility Share Prices. Rajiv Kalra, Glenn V. Henderson, Jr. and Gary A. Raines. Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 52–77.


External links


Kurchatov Institute T-15
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