| Department Colloquium |
Wednesday
April 8, 2009
Regents Hall 210
2:00—3:00 p.m.
Lunch: 12:00 in
Buntrock Commons #221
Phone: 507-786-3120
email: russell@stolaf.edu
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Magnetic Fusion Energy Research:
From PEGASUS to ITER
Mike Bongard ’04
Research Assistant
UW-Madison
Harnessing nuclear fusion, the power of the stars, for peaceful energy generation represents one of the outstanding scientific and engineering grand challenges of our time. In this talk, I will review the physics of fusion from the perspective of magnetic confinement, as well as the progress the worldwide fusion community has made towards realizing this goal – culminating with the ITER advanced tokamak. Currently under construction, ITER is designed to demonstrate reactor-relevant production of fusion energy in a "burning plasma" for the first time.
Of course, the scope of fusion research is much larger than supporting a single device. What research effort is currently going on in the US and abroad? What steps need to be taken and problems solved to make the dream of a realizable fusion power plant happen? And how does one get started in this exciting, challenging, and increasingly interdisciplinary field?
As an example, I will present recent results from my research in edge stability physics at the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment, located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as some of my experiences from becoming a new member of the fusion community. |
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