An Ideal Compact Fusion Reactor Based on a Field-Reversed Configuration

Abstract

Field-reversed configurations (FRC) have been recognized as possessing almost ideal fusion reactor characteristics from the point of view of engineering simplicity and maintainability. The external geometry is cylindrical while the internal magnetic field configuration is toroidal, allowing for both a simple magnetic confinement design and the possibility of good plasma confinement. FRCs are unique among all toroidal confinement concepts in not possessing any significant toroidal field. This necessitates a very high plasma beta, which provides for extreme compactness, but imposes very non-standard requirements for basic stability. Recent experimental results have gone far toward demonstrating this stability, and new experiments are underway toward developing other aspects along the FRC reactor development path. If successful, these experiments could represent a breakthrough in fusion reactor attractiveness.