DIII-D National Fusion Facility’s Post

The inner walls of fusion reactors must withstand extreme conditions. A team of scientists has now used positrons at Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) to investigate the properties of suitable materials. Researchers from our institute played a key role in experiments with tungsten. #nuclearfusion #fusionenergy #antimatter #science https://lnkd.in/eEFxws3Y

Thrilled to share a research paper that's just hit the scientific community, written by Logan Joyce, Peng Wang, and Yi Xie. The depth of understanding and the vivid schematics Logan provided in this paper with the guidance of Peng and Yi truly take the comprehension of mechanisms to another level. Their collective efforts are nothing short of spectacular. 🌟 Digging into the narrative behind this research, it all sprouted from a fascinating observation by Peng in a prior study (https://lnkd.in/d5fawm6m) explaining Ni-based oxides' stability in the oxygen-rich waters of boiling water reactor coolants – which, mind you, are notorious for their corrosive nature due to the presence of free radicals and peroxides. This intriguing insight sowed the seeds of curiosity, leading me to investigate if Ni could indeed bolster the corrosion resistance in these formidable environments. Haozheng Qu's subsequent findings on Ni's positive influence on FeCrAl alloys outside radiation zones further bolstered our hypothesis (https://lnkd.in/d_xCg2nT). Fast forward, this manuscript presents a compelling case for Ni's role in promoting the formation of passive oxides – facilitating protective layers that might otherwise struggle to form. 💪 The genesis of this collaborative venture was at a MiNES conference when Yi Xie walked up to Rajnikant Umretiya and me with the intent to collaborate on a sidelined project we were zealous about but time-constrained. This research is a living testament to the extraordinary outcomes that sprout from serendipitous meetings and the steadfast backing of initiatives like the US Department of Energy's Nuclear Science User Facility Program that truly underpin fundamental science with real-world impact. 🌱 I tip my hat to Professor Xie for igniting this collaboration, to Logan for his exemplary leadership in penning down the study, and to Peng for his impeccable experimental work at the University of Michigan ion beam lab. Also huge thanks go out to Rajnikant who coordinated our sample exchanges with the team. This is science in harmony, and I am profoundly grateful for every mind and hand that sculpted this significant piece of work. 🙏 Link to the paper below. 📃 #Research #Collaboration #Science #Innovation #Gratitude #NuclearScience #DOE #MaterialScience

⚡ Tokamak with Reactor Technology (TRT) is being developed as a full-scale prototype of a future fusion reactor/neutron source. It is designed to study the behavior of plasma in quasi-stationary modes close to ignition, research and development of various methods for additional plasma heating, fuel supply, blanket technologies, development of new diagnostics operating in high neutron fluxes, and development of tritium technology. ⚡ “Currently there is a lot of construction going on at the site, just like there was in the 70s and 80s, and it will develop even more. The construction of the Tokamak with Reactor Technologies will lead to the restoration of Russia’s ideological and technological leadership in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion,” said Kirill Ilyin, Director General of the State Research Center of the Russian Federation TRINITI. https://lnkd.in/e2fwpVnV 🌷🌷🌷

🚀🌍 Epic Chinese Fusion Breakthrough Unleashed! ☀️🌐 Global Collaboration: 17 institutes & universities worldwide joined, showcasing China's dedication to international teamwork 🤝 Magnetic Field Leap: A game-changing discovery in plasma physics and fusion technology 🌌 Energy Revolution: Fuelling the race for clean energy globally, with South Korea and others also advancing fusion research 🌱 Stepping into advanced tech for a cleaner future is the right move! But what's next, especially with the CCP? World domination, AGI armies, bioengineered humans, or space warfare... 🌌 the unknown keeps us guessing! 💡🚀 Exciting times are ahead as humanity charts new frontiers in clean energy and technological innovation! 🌟✨ #NuclearFusion #CleanEnergy #HL-3Tokamak #ArtificialSun #PlasmaPhysics #InternationalCooperation #SustainableEnergy #GlobalParticipation #AdvancedTechnology #EnergyRace #ScientificBreakthrough #ResearchInstitutes #Universities 

The CGYRO code team is using the power of the exascale supercomputer Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer, to model turbulence in fusion plasmas. These challenging simulations, spanning extreme space and time scales, are being used to develop new techniques to improve the confinement of energy in super-hot hydrogen plasmas in future fusion reactors.

Article published on Fusion Engineering and Desing journal with title "Overview of recent advancements in IFMIF-DONES neutronics activities". In it, it is presented the recent avacements in the neutronics activities of the IFMIF-DONES project, developed within the EUROfusion framework. It worth to take a look (it is an Open Access article) if you are interested into neutronics and you want to know more about this accelerator-based neutron source. https://lnkd.in/dEu22FUu

Totally agree with what we read on Space Daily (https://lnkd.in/dRFsudeu) about control systems in fusion. Any chaotic stuff is tricky but fusion, plasma, perhaps is the trickiest of them all. The future fusion reactor will be a sophisticated and technically beautiful device. Using machine learning in plasma control looks like a game-changer to manage extreme complexity at an enormous speed. Our own experience includes applying Reinforcement Learning to train ML models for plasma control. So far we're focused on dynamic control of plasma shape and position in DIII-D tokamak. Quite easy to say but extremely hard to master, RL is a whole ocean of approaches and details.

I'm eager to share my recent publication that I have been working on about ultrafast science. 🔬 Abstract:  We study the ultrafast dynamics initiated by a coherent superposition of core-excited states of the nitrous oxide molecule. Using high-level ab initio methods, we show that the decoherence caused by the electronic decay and the nuclear dynamics is substantially slower than the induced ultrafast quantum beatings, allowing the system to undergo several oscillations before it dephases. We propose a proof-of-concept experiment using the harmonic up-conversion scheme available at x-ray free-electron laser facilities to trace the evolution of the created core-excited-state coherence through a time-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. #Research #UltrafastDynamics #AttosecondScience

A reader asked about "cold fusion", is it a myth? Here is my answer, a bit technical but maybe useful for some: I am convinced there are real effects going on in some of the so-called cold fusion experiments. But despite much effort in labs around the world, it is still not possible to reproduce the effects attributed to "cold fusion" in a reliable fashion. The effects, when they happen at all, remain sporadic. At the moment there is no experimentally verified theory. I think Prof. Hagelstein (MIT) has the most promising theoretical approach, which is supported by other types of experiments concerning excitation transfer between nuclei via phonons. Here is a very instructive paper on this: https://lnkd.in/eQpMFTmS I can also mention excellent experiments by Konrad Czersky and his group at the University of Szczecin in Poland, observing heightened D-D reaction rates when deuterated metals are irradiated by a very low energy deuteron beam: https://lnkd.in/eUMbieFp Also important theoretical investigations: https://lnkd.in/eghrxwAW Note, these are not "cold fusion" experiments, but they support the hypothesis, that nuclear reactions can occur at low energies in a metallic lattice. A potentially revolutionary area, but far too soon to talk about practical applications.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the ITER Organization have made a groundbreaking discovery about plasma behavior in fusion reactors. Their findings, published in Nuclear Fusion, challenge previous assumptions about the impact of exhaust heat on reactor vessels. By simulating particle escape routes using advanced computer codes, they've revealed that the heat load on divertor plates may be less severe than expected, potentially revolutionizing our approach to commercial-scale fusion. This discovery not only enhances our understanding of fusion physics but also holds promising implications for the future of sustainable energy.  https://lnkd.in/gf3JtJ5n #Energy #Fusion #IP #Patents #VC #DeepTech #SustainableEnergy