Plasma Science and Fusion Center IAP Series
Jeffrey Freidberg, Peter Catto, Ronald Parker, Paul Rivenberg
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
This series introduces plasma physics research and areas of related interest at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. See URL below.
Web: http://www.psfc.mit.edu/
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, x3-8101, rivenberg@psfc.mit.edu
Energy 101 - An Overview of the Energy Picture
Jeffrey Freidberg
This talk will provide an overview of the present US energy situation, so that we might attempt such questions as: Is subsidizing wind power to replace coal a good, bad, or neutral idea? What about subsidizing the production of ethanol from biomass products? Are plug-in hybrids the best way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and greenhouse gas emissions?
Title from "Energy 101" by W. L. Hughes (2004)
Tue Jan 20, 10-11:00am, NW17-218
The Nuclear Renaissance: Fact of Fiction?
Jacopo Buongiorno
This talk will review the safety, operational and economic record of the existing U.S. commercial reactor fleet, will provide an overview of the reactor designs considered for the new wave of plant construction, and will discuss the potential obstacles to a robust expansion of nuclear power in the U.S. and worldwide. Co-sponsored by CANES.
Tue Jan 20, 11-12:00am, NW17-218, Co-sponsored by CANES
Dancing with the Stars: Basic Steps to Fusion Energy
Abhay Ram
The talk introduces some principal physical concepts relevant to fusion energy on Earth. The requirements for a viable fusion reactor are contrasted with our most important, fully operating, fusion reactor, the Sun.
Wed Jan 21, 10-11:00am, NW17-218
Fusion Energy on Albany Street
Robert Granetz
This talk will describe a major fusion energy experiment being carried out on the MIT campus. Alcator C-Mod is the third in a series of tokamak devices that use very high magnetic fields to confine plasmas as hot as 70,000,000 degrees C. The construction, operation and a survey of research topics will all be discussed.
Wed Jan 21, 11am-12:00pm, NW17-218
Tour of Alcator C-Mod
Istvan Cziegler
The Alcator C-Mod tokamak is a well tested approach to fusion research that has produced decades of progress towards achieving fusion energy. See the machine - currently in a maintenance phase - from the inside out. A talk about C-Mod precedes the tour at 11AM.
Wed Jan 21, 01-02:00pm, NW17-218
Levitating Magnet Brings Physics of Space to the Laboratory
Michael Mauel Columbia University
Since the launch of America's first satellites, scientists have been studying plasma confined by natural magnetic fields, like the magnetospheres around planets. Scientists at MIT and Columbia University have succeeded in building a magnetic dipole that confines plasma like a magnetosphere while simultaneously preventing contact with the laboratory apparatus - the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX). Talk followed by tour.
Thu Jan 22, 11am-12:00pm, NW17-218
Tour of LDX
Tour guide to be announced
A joint project by MIT and Columbia University and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) consists of a superconducting magnet about the size and shape of a large truck tire. This half-ton magnet is levitated inside a huge vacuum chamber, using another powerful magnet above a large vacuum chamber. A talk about the project precedes the tour.
Thu Jan 22, 12-12:30pm, NW17-218
Stellarator Opportunities for Fusion
Michael Zarnstorff Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Stellarators use a three-dimensional helical magnetic torus to confine high temperature plasmas for fusion. The 3-D shape can be used to externally control the plasma confinement characteristics and to robustly sustain high pressure plasmas, but increases the complexity of the analysis and engineering. New strategies for reducing the complexity and using stellarators to resolve fusion challenges will be discussed.
Thu Jan 22, 03-04:00pm, NW17-218, NOTE RECENT TIME CHANGE to 3PM
Direct Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosion Physics
Robert McCrory University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics
The speaker will review the direct drive approach to inertial confinement fusion ignition and high gain, including results from experiments on the OMEGA Laser System at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He will explain a general theory of target design and implosion hydrodynamics, and will discuss future directions.
Tue Jan 27, 10-11:00am, NW17-218
MIT Research Programs in Inertial Fusion at OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility
Chikang Li
Utilizing the OMEGA Laser system, MIT collaborates closely with the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics on state-of-the-art experiments in inertial confinement fusion and in high-energy-density physics. The experiments and analyses developed at OMEGA will soon have application on the National Ignition Facility. Some of the interesting results of this collaboration will be presented.
Tue Jan 27, 11-12:00am, NW17-218
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