Superconducting Magnets: A Comparison of Nb3Sn & NbTi Alloys in Nuclear Fusion Reactors
- ehemilyharrison
- May 1, 2021
- 1 min read
Spring 2021, Material Science
Above: An image of the ITER nuclear fusion reactor, during construction. (Schirra & Giraldi 2020)
Early in the spring of 2021, I was working on learning about electrical power systems and renewable energy for my work - I was working for the Laboratory for Atmospheric & Space Physics and was trying to familiarize myself with the types of systems used to power cube satellites. Needless to say, I got distracted and came across the webpage for the ITER - international thermonuclear experimental reactor, a new tokamak - and started learning about nuclear fusion reactors... and was amazed to learn that they are not anything new (or, relatively new given the speed of innovation of technology)! Pretty crazily, nuclear fusion reactors have been in the works since the 1950's, during the Cold War; governments have been funding these facilities for decades. Within these machines (most often, tokamaks), are these superconducting magnets that basically contain the super hot plasma (hundreds of millions of degrees) that is the hydrogen isotopes. These isotopes end up smashing together to form helium. These magnets are super interesting, and are actually also found in MRI machines... so... one would think that the materials database at CU would have information on these metal alloys... but much to my dismay, they did not.
Regardless, I found it interesting... and wrote a paper! Enjoy.
Schirra, M. & Giraldi, F. (2020, December 1). Doughnut Device [Photograph]. Scientific
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