Advances in Technology, Material Science and Physics for the Basis of the Ignitor Program

The Ignitor Program [1] is motivated by the need to investigate the physics of fusion burning plasmas as is necessary to identify road blocks or new processes that may prevent or facilitate the feasibility of (useful) power producing reactors. The first complete design of a machine capable to pursue this goal, now referred to as Ignitor EVO, is being updated consistently in order to take the results of new and significant experiments into account and to benefit from developments of technology and materials science that become known. Given the proven ability of high field compact machines to produce well confined plasmas with a wide range of collisionalities, Non-thermal (“Cool”) Fusion processes can be fruitfully investigated with them. Another important possibility is that of inducing high currents in low and high density plasmas in order to adopt the most appropriate current drive procedures and means. In view of future developments, Ignitor has pioneered the development of large MgB2 superconducting magnets of the kind adopted for the largest poloidal field coils. Collaboration has expanded with U.S. and European research and industrial institutions in the process of developing reliable superconducting magnets that can be suitable for the innermost machine components that have to produce the highest fields.

[1] B. Coppi et al., Nucl. Fusion 55, 053011 (2015).