Tag Archive for 'JET'

From the JET site. Link

Nuclear Fusion may be the answer to our energy problems. Its environmentally friendly (unlike Nuclear Fission which produces long lived radioactive waste) and does not cause global warming (No CO2 emissions). Moreover, Nuclear Fusion reactors can never explode like Nuclear Fission Reactors (e.g. Chernobyl).

The problem is that we still don’t know how to do Nuclear Fusion efficiently! Nevertheless, we are close to mastering the technology. In 20-30 years controlled Nuclear Fusion may become a reality.

JET was an experiment by the European Union that solved many problems in the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion. The JET Tokamak program was active for about two decades until 1999.

John Wesson, a member of the Jet Team has written a freely available book The Science of JET. You can download the book here and here. (Use the first link. The fonts are messed up in a few places on the second link).

The Science of JET is a fantastic non-technical book. It explains everything you need to know about fusion via Tokamaks in a wonderfully simple fashion. Plasma confinement has a reputation for being a very tough subject but John Wesson makes it simple. If you have studied college physics you will be able to follow the book very easily.

John Wesson stresses concepts. You come away with a good understanding of Tokamaks. There are also lots of interesting stories that make the book part tutorial and part historical account.

What you will learn/gain from the book:

• A good feel of plasmas. How they are confined magnetically in Tokamaks
• A good understanding of plasma heating techniques like RF heating, neutral beam heating and Ohmic heating
• A good understanding of important components of Tokamaks like Diverters, Toroidal and Poloidal coils etc.
• How to achieve fusion. Basic concepts like fusion triple product, energy confinement etc.
• H-modes, Instabilities, confinement, energy losses etc.
• The technology behind various components of a Tokamak fusion reactor
• History of the field and other experiments in Japan and US

The book sparked my interest in controlled fusion. Here is a list of resources and videos that will be useful while reading John Wesson’s book.

Wikipedia entry on Tokamaks

Fusion Basics from the JET site

The Plasma Edge (really good article)

Some advanced articles from the JET site

Nice JET movie, Another Movie

ITER: The successor to JET

ITER is an international collaboration unlike JET, which was mainly European. A prototype nuclear fusion reactor (ITER) is expected to produce 500 MW of power. India is part of the international collaboration!

India’s latest Tokamak, SST-1 (slightly outdated website)

Institute for Plasma Research, Gujarat, India

Overview of Tokamak Results