Brit Fusion Magnets Set For US Gamma Ray Bombardment Test (theregister.com) 13
UK fusion company Tokamak Energy claims to have made a breakthrough in fusion magnets, developing technology capable of withstanding the electromagnetic bombardment from a fusion reaction while holding the reaction in place. It plans to put its technology to the test at a U.S. gamma ray facility in the desert. The Register reports: At its Oxford headquarters, Tokamak Energy, which is collaborating with the UK government's nuclear fusion program, has built a specialist gamma radiation cryostat system, designed around a vacuum device which insulates the magnets from fusion energy. The system is now set to be disassembled, shipped, and rebuilt at the Gamma Irradiation Facility based at the US Department of Energy's Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Tokamak Energy said Sandia was one of the few places in the world capable of housing the system while exposing the company's superconducting magnets to gamma radiation comparable with the expected emissions of a fusion power plant. Research and analysis on sets of individual magnets will run for six months at the New Mexico facility, which is so powerful it can do a 60-year lifetime test in just two weeks, Tokamak Energy said. The company recently signed an agreement with UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to jointly develop technology, and share resources and equipment for the development of a Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP).
Tokamak Energy said Sandia was one of the few places in the world capable of housing the system while exposing the company's superconducting magnets to gamma radiation comparable with the expected emissions of a fusion power plant. Research and analysis on sets of individual magnets will run for six months at the New Mexico facility, which is so powerful it can do a 60-year lifetime test in just two weeks, Tokamak Energy said. The company recently signed an agreement with UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to jointly develop technology, and share resources and equipment for the development of a Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP).
Gamma ray lab in the desert? (Score:3)
British fusion magnets set for Yank test (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Without reading the article it is probably Oxford Magnetics which is one of, if not the leading manufacturers of electromagnets in the world. There are probably only a handful of suitable testing facilities in the world for this sort of testing so no surprise it has to go abroad.
HULK SMASH! (Score:1)
RAAAAWWWWRRRRR!
Oh great (Score:3)
The last thing we need is a giant British accented magnetic villain we wouldn't like when angry.
Huh? (Score:2)
This story makes no sense.
Gammas are not the source of damage to the magnets in a fusion reactor. Neutrons are. Solving the gamma problem is like fixing the leaky sink faucet while your house fills up from a broken water main.
Makes for good press I suppose, the Reg was obviously desiring another "fusion breakthrough!".
Out of the fire and into the frying pan (Score:2)
https://www.nuclear-power.com/... [nuclear-power.com].
Apparently, one can shield against neutrons, but the shield in turn will give off gamma photons that are highly penetrating.
That people don't know what they are doing or saying may be a good Bayesian prior, but isn't necessarily what is always happening?
Re: (Score:2)
Radioactivity fears (Score:2)