Promising new results from Alcator

New results from the MIT tokamak caused quite a stir when they were reported at the APS plasma‐physics division meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida in mid‐November. The experiment, known as “Alcator,” achieved a value for the Lawson number, $\mathrm{N\tau }$ (where N is the peak particle density and τ is confinement time) greater than ${10}^{13}\hspace{0.17em}\sec /{\mathrm{cm}}^3.$ This value for $\mathrm{N\tau }$ is five times greater than has been achieved in any other confinement experiment. It is generally believed that an $\mathrm{N\tau }$ of about ${10}^{14}\hspace{0.17em}\sec /{\mathrm{cm}}^3$ and an ion temperature of about 6 keV must be achieved to reach breakeven conditions for a fusion plasma.

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