A tokamak is a type of magnetic confinement device used to create controlled nuclear fusion reactions. It uses magnetic fields to confine a hot plasma of hydrogen isotopes, forcing them to collide and fuse together, releasing energy in the process. The goal is to achieve sustained fusion reactions that could potentially provide a clean and abundant source of energy in the future.
Scientists are limited in downsizing tokamak reactors due to the need for a certain magnetic field strength to confine the plasma, control instabilities, and sustain fusion reactions. Additionally, scaling down the size of the reactor can lead to challenges in maintaining high plasma temperatures and controlling heat and particle loads on the materials. Researchers are actively exploring new designs and technologies to overcome these limitations for potential future reactors.
Fusion reactions occur in the core of stars, including our Sun. These reactions involve the fusion of light atomic nuclei to form heavier elements, releasing large amounts of energy in the process.
Electromagnetism is used in containing nuclear fusion reactions by creating strong magnetic fields that confine and control the hot plasma of hydrogen isotopes. These magnetic fields prevent the plasma from touching the walls of the fusion chamber, maintaining its stability and allowing the fusion reaction to occur under controlled conditions. The electromagnetic confinement helps to achieve the high temperatures and pressures required for nuclear fusion to take place.
You are most likely referring to a magnetic confinement fusion device, such as a tokamak or a stellarator. These devices use powerful magnetic fields to confine and control high-temperature plasma, enabling the conditions necessary for a controlled fusion reaction to occur. Scientists and researchers study and investigate these devices in order to develop a viable and sustainable method of achieving nuclear fusion as a clean and abundant source of energy.
Nuclear fusion requires an environment of extreme energy, or, said another way, extreme heat. Temperatures are so high that any matter there exists as plasma. In addition to the extreme heat, stars use extreme gravity to compress the plasma to facilitate continuous fusion. In our attempts to duplicate this process, we have to contain the plasma, and the best we can do is some kind of magnetic cage like the tokamak.
Tokamak
tokamak
You think probable to Russian installation Tokamak.
A tokamak is a device used to confine high-temperature plasma for the purpose of studying nuclear fusion. It creates a magnetic field that confines the plasma in a toroidal shape, allowing for controlled fusion reactions to occur. Tokamaks are essential in advancing our understanding of plasma physics and developing fusion energy as a sustainable power source.
The concept of the tokamak was developed by Soviet physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov in the 1950s. However, the first operational tokamak was built in the Soviet Union in 1958 by Oleg Lavrentiev.
Scientists hope to achieve a sustainable and controllable fusion reaction that can generate abundant clean energy. The research on Tokamak Fusion Reactors aims to overcome the technical challenges of achieving self-sustaining fusion reactions and commercialize fusion power as a viable alternative energy source. Success in this research could help address global energy needs and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
W R. Spears has written: 'A pulsed tokamak reactor study'
Ingeborg Entrop has written: 'Confinement of relativistic runaway electrons in tokamak plasmas'
You don't give the list of 'following countries' ! However I believe the largest or most powerful tokamak so far is the JET at Culham in England. See link below. The new one in S Korea looks perhaps to surpass that but it has not yet been fully operated. The tokamak originated in Russia, it was a brilliant development which took western science by surprise, but is now pretty universal in fusion research. The other possible lead is by laser ignition which is being promoted in a few places, but is very difficult to set up accurately. There is a Wikipedia article on 'tokamak' which gives a long list of facilities in many countries.
Plasma in a tokamak is confined using magnetic fields to keep it away from the walls of the chamber. The magnetic fields create a torus-shaped confinement area where the plasma can circulate without touching the walls. This confinement allows the plasma to reach the high temperatures and pressures needed for nuclear fusion reactions.
S. P Hirshman has written: 'Two-dimensional transport of tokamak plasmas' -- subject(s): Tokamaks
Wojciech R. Fundamenski has written: 'Tokamak edge plasma modeling using an improved onion-skin method'