IGNITOR
Encyclopedia
IGNITOR is the Italian name for a nuclear research project of magnetic confinement fusion
, developed by ENEA
Laboratories in Frascati
.
The project theory is based on ignited plasma in tokamak
. Started in 1977 by Prof. Bruno Coppi MIT, IGNITOR is based on the 1970s Alcator machine at MIT which pioneered the high magnetic field approach to plasma magnetic confinement, continued with the Alcator C/C-Mod
at MIT and the FT/FTU series of experiments. Compared to the ITER
international project, IGNITOR is much smaller and cheaper: the ITER reactor is 19,000 tons in weight while the IGNITOR is only 500 tons in weight. IGNITOR is designed to produce approximately 100 MW of fusion power.
, Director of the Kurchatov Institute
, announced that an initiative aimed at developing a fast paced joint research programme in nuclear fusion research was strongly supported by the Governments of Russia and Italy.
The original proposal had been initiated earlier by Evgeny Velikhov
(President of the Kurchatov Institute) and Bruno Coppi (Head of the High Energy Plasmas Undertaking, MIT) during the early developments of the Alcator C-Mod
programme at MIT, where well known scientists of the Kurchatov Institute made key contributions to experiments that identified the unique confinement and purity properties of the high density plasmas produced by the high field Alcator machine. In effects this investigated, for the first time, physical processes leading to attain self-sustained fusion burning plasmas.
The collaboration with the Kurchatov Institute is directed at the construction of the Ignitor machine, the first experiment proposed to achieve ignition conditions by nuclear fusion reactions on the basis of existing knowledge of plasma physics and available technologies. Ignitor is part of the line of research on high magnetic field, experiments producing high density plasmas that began with the Alcator and the Frascati Torus programs at MIT and in Italy, respectively. It remains, at the world level, the only experiment capable of reaching ignition by the magnetic field confinement approach. However, several fusion scientists have contested the claim made for IGNITOR that it is a bigger step towards fusion power than the international ITER
project .
According to existing plans, Ignitor will be installed at the Triniti site at Troitsk near Moscow that has facilities which can be upgraded to house and operate the machine. This site will become open and made to be easily accessible to scientists of all nations. The management of the relevant research programme will involve Italy and Russia only to facilitate the success of the enterprise. The proponents have suggested that the US
become an Associate Member of this effort with a similar arrangement to that made with CERN
for its participation in the LHC
(Large Hadron Collider) Programme.
The goal to produce meaningful fusion reactors in a reasonable time leads to pursuing the achievement of ignition conditions in the near term in order to understand the plasma physical regimes needed for a net power producing reactor. In addition, an objective other than ignition that can be envisioned for the relatively near term is that of high flux neutron sources for material testing involving compact, high density fusion machines. This has been one of the incentives that have led the Ignitor Project to adopt magnesium diboride (MgB2) superconducting cables in the machine design, a first in fusion research. Accordingly, the largest coils (about 5 m diameter) of the machine will be made entirely of MgB2 cables.
In the context of the Italy-Russia summit meeting held in Milan on 26 April 2010 the agreement to proceed with the proposed joint Ignitor program has been signed. The participants, from the Russian side, have included the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
, the Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin
, the Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko
, and the Vice Minister of Education and Research Sergey Mazurenko. Participants from the Italian side have included Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
, the Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister Valentino Valentini (who had a key role in forging the agreement on the Ignitor program), and the Minister of Education and Research Mariastella Gelmini
who, together with Sergey Mazurenko, signed the agreement in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.
Magnetic confinement fusion
Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generating fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine the hot fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, the other being inertial confinement fusion. The magnetic approach is...
, developed by ENEA
ENEA (Italy)
The L'Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile is an Italian Government sponsored research and development agency...
Laboratories in Frascati
Frascati
Frascati is a town and comune in the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, being the location of several international scientific...
.
The project theory is based on ignited plasma in tokamak
Tokamak
A tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
. Started in 1977 by Prof. Bruno Coppi MIT, IGNITOR is based on the 1970s Alcator machine at MIT which pioneered the high magnetic field approach to plasma magnetic confinement, continued with the Alcator C/C-Mod
Alcator C-Mod
Alcator C-Mod is a tokamak, a magnetically confined nuclear fusion device, at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. It is the tokamak with the highest magnetic field and highest plasma pressure in the world...
at MIT and the FT/FTU series of experiments. Compared to the ITER
ITER
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
international project, IGNITOR is much smaller and cheaper: the ITER reactor is 19,000 tons in weight while the IGNITOR is only 500 tons in weight. IGNITOR is designed to produce approximately 100 MW of fusion power.
Development
At a meeting with the scientific attachés of the European embassies in Moscow in early February 2010 Mikhail KovalchukMikhail Kovalchuk
Mikhail Valentinovich Kovalchuk is a Russian physicist and official. He is a brother of Yury Kovalchuk, known as "Putin's personal banker."Since May 26, 2000 Mikhail Kovalchuk has been an Associate Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in physics....
, Director of the Kurchatov Institute
Kurchatov Institute
The Kurchatov Institute is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear energy. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy , abbreviated KIAE . It is named after Igor Kurchatov....
, announced that an initiative aimed at developing a fast paced joint research programme in nuclear fusion research was strongly supported by the Governments of Russia and Italy.
The original proposal had been initiated earlier by Evgeny Velikhov
Evgeny Velikhov
Evgeny Pavlovich Velikhov is a physicist and scientific leader in the Russian Federation. His scientific interests include plasma physics, lasers, controlled nuclear fusion, power engineering and magnetohydrodynamics...
(President of the Kurchatov Institute) and Bruno Coppi (Head of the High Energy Plasmas Undertaking, MIT) during the early developments of the Alcator C-Mod
Alcator C-Mod
Alcator C-Mod is a tokamak, a magnetically confined nuclear fusion device, at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. It is the tokamak with the highest magnetic field and highest plasma pressure in the world...
programme at MIT, where well known scientists of the Kurchatov Institute made key contributions to experiments that identified the unique confinement and purity properties of the high density plasmas produced by the high field Alcator machine. In effects this investigated, for the first time, physical processes leading to attain self-sustained fusion burning plasmas.
The collaboration with the Kurchatov Institute is directed at the construction of the Ignitor machine, the first experiment proposed to achieve ignition conditions by nuclear fusion reactions on the basis of existing knowledge of plasma physics and available technologies. Ignitor is part of the line of research on high magnetic field, experiments producing high density plasmas that began with the Alcator and the Frascati Torus programs at MIT and in Italy, respectively. It remains, at the world level, the only experiment capable of reaching ignition by the magnetic field confinement approach. However, several fusion scientists have contested the claim made for IGNITOR that it is a bigger step towards fusion power than the international ITER
ITER
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
project .
According to existing plans, Ignitor will be installed at the Triniti site at Troitsk near Moscow that has facilities which can be upgraded to house and operate the machine. This site will become open and made to be easily accessible to scientists of all nations. The management of the relevant research programme will involve Italy and Russia only to facilitate the success of the enterprise. The proponents have suggested that the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
become an Associate Member of this effort with a similar arrangement to that made with CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
for its participation in the LHC
Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
(Large Hadron Collider) Programme.
The goal to produce meaningful fusion reactors in a reasonable time leads to pursuing the achievement of ignition conditions in the near term in order to understand the plasma physical regimes needed for a net power producing reactor. In addition, an objective other than ignition that can be envisioned for the relatively near term is that of high flux neutron sources for material testing involving compact, high density fusion machines. This has been one of the incentives that have led the Ignitor Project to adopt magnesium diboride (MgB2) superconducting cables in the machine design, a first in fusion research. Accordingly, the largest coils (about 5 m diameter) of the machine will be made entirely of MgB2 cables.
In the context of the Italy-Russia summit meeting held in Milan on 26 April 2010 the agreement to proceed with the proposed joint Ignitor program has been signed. The participants, from the Russian side, have included the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, the Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin
Igor Sechin
Igor Ivanovich Sechin is a Russian official, considered a close ally of Vladimir Putin. Sechin is often described as one of Putin's most conservative counselors and the leader of the Kremlin's Siloviki faction, a statist lobby gathering former security services agents...
, the Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko
Sergei Shmatko
Sergei Ivanovich Shmatkó is a Russian businessman and politician specializing in the energy industry. Since May 2008, he is the Minister of Energy.-Early life:Shmatko was born in Stavropol...
, and the Vice Minister of Education and Research Sergey Mazurenko. Participants from the Italian side have included Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
, the Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister Valentino Valentini (who had a key role in forging the agreement on the Ignitor program), and the Minister of Education and Research Mariastella Gelmini
Mariastella Gelmini
Mariastella Gelmini, is an Italian politician and attorney . She served as Italian Minister of Education in the Berlusconi IV Cabinet until November 16, 2011.-Political career:Gelmini was born in Leno, Italy....
who, together with Sergey Mazurenko, signed the agreement in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.