The Quest for a Fusion Energy Reactor

Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-0-19-973384-2
Verlag: ACADEMIC

Buch, Englisch, 198 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 448 g

Concerns over the planet's limited energy sources are not new. For the past half-century, scientists from around the world have explored substitutes for fossil fuels. Among them, developed nations have invested considerable resources in the development of nuclear fusion technology. Thus, in 1978, scientists and engineers from Europe, Japan, the United States, and the former Soviet Union joined together under the banner of the INTOR Workshop (INternational group
working on a TOkamak Reactor) to share their individual research on nuclear fusion's viability as an energy source. Their ten years of cooperative work on the design and development possibilities for harnessing nuclear energy planted the seeds for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
(ITER), construction of which began in 2008 and whose goal it is to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power.

Weston Stacey served as the INTOR Workshop's vice-chairman (and U.S. representative) and kept a journal in which he detailed both the scientific participants' technical work as well as their more political interactions. In this first person narrative, Stacey provides an accessible account (introducing explanatory material when necessary) of the research and development activities conducted to determine the viability of designing, constructing, and operating a tokamak experimental power reactor.
Of more human interest were the obstacles the Workshop leaders and participants faced as they advanced their own countries' priorities while striving to make progress on the global future of nuclear fusion technology. Personal anecdotes illuminate the mixing of cultures and the challenges presented
by the Cold War's unique political climate. While the focus of the book centers on the history of the INTOR Workshop, Stacey paints a full picture of the people and places involved in the work, how decisions were made, and how these efforts laid the groundwork for ITER's subsequent development. This text will appeal not only to those studying fusion science and engineering, but to anyone interested in a unique story of how international relations and scientific study intersect, ultimately one
of collaboration for the sake of a common goal.

Zielgruppe

Scientists in the field and general readers interested in nuclear physics and engineering.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stacey

Stacey, Weston

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Energietechnik | Elektrotechnik Atomenergietechnik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Geschichte der Physik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik Kernphysik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Energie- & Versorgungswirtschaft Kernenergieindustrie
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik Hochenergiephysik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1.: Prologue (1978)
2.: Zero Phase of the INTOR Workshop (1979)
3.: Phase One of the INTOR Workshop (1980-81)
4.: Phase 2A of the INTOR Workshop (1981-88)
5.: Epilogue
Appendices
Glossary
Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Weston Stacey is a plasma physicist and nuclear engineer with over 40 years of teaching and research experience in nuclear reactor and fusion research. He led the U.S. team in the IAEA INTOR Workshop that led to the ITER fusion energy reactor project, which is the subject of this book. He has published 9 textbooks or research monographs and more than 260 original research papers.