Developing a definition of an engineering test reactor (ETR) is a current goal of the Office of Fusion Energy (OFE). As a baseline for the mirror ETR, the Fusion Power Demonstration (FPD) concept has been pursued at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in cooperation with Grumman Aerospace, TRW, and the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Envisioned as an intermediate step to fusion power applications, the FPD would achieve DT ignition in the central cell, after which blankets and power conversion would be added to produce net power. To achieve ignition, a minimum central cell length of 67.5 m is needed to supply the ion and alpha particles radial drift pumping losses in the transition region. The resulting fusion power is 360 MW. Low electron-cyclotron heating power of 12 MW, ion-cyclotron heating of 2.5 MW, and a sloshing ion beam power of 1.0 MW result in a net plasma Q of 22. A primary technological challenge is the 24-T, 45-cm bore choke coil, comprising a copper hybrid insert within a 15 to 18 T superconducting coil.

A comprehensive theoretical study has been performed on the reduction of the electrical breakdown potential of liquid and gaseous helium under neutron and gamma radiation. Extension of the conventional Townsend breakdown theory indicates that radiation fields at the superconducting magnets of a typical fusion reactor are potentially capable of significantly reducing currently established (i.e., unirradiated) helium breakdown voltages. Emphasis is given to the implications of these results including future deployment choices of magnet cryogenic methods (e.g., pool-boiling versus forced-flow), the possible impact on magnet shielding requirements and the analogous situation for radiation-induced electrical breakdown in fusion RF transmission systems.

We have modified the LLNL radial transport code TMT to model reactor regime plasmas, fueled by pellets. The source profiles arising from pellet fueling are obtained from existing pellet ablation models. Because inward radial diffusion due to inverted profiles must compete with trapping of central cell ions in the transition region for tandem mirrors, pellets must penetrate fairly far into the plasma. In fact, based on our radial calculations, a pellet with a velocity of 10 km/sec cannot sustain the central flux tubes; a velocity more like 100 km/sec will be necessary. We also find that the central cell radial diffusion must exceed classical by about a factor of 100.

The tandem mirror program has evolved considerably in the last decade. Of significance is the viable reactor concept embodied in the MARS design. An aggressive experimental program, culminating in the operation of MFTF-B in late 1986, will provide a firm basis for refining the MARS design as necessary for constructing a reactor prototype in the 1990s.

The Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) vacuum system has been installed and operating since December 1981. In 1982 and early 1983 the performance of the internal, dynamic pumping system was evaluated during physics experiments. The plasma region gas loads caused the pressure to exceed that allowable for achieving thermal barrier plasmas. The unified, multiple-beamline concept used on TMX-U to pump the neutral-beam injector gas was modified. The modifications to the system were designed to reduce conductance between the injectors and the plasma region to better use the differential pumping in the pumping regions. The modifications made were a smaller cross section neutralizer, replacing apertures with ducts between regions, eliminating the injector scrape-off in the plasma region, relocating the neutral beam dumps, and eliminating the gaps around various penetrations.

We will soon add a high-field axisymmetric throttle region to the central cell of the TMX-U. Field amplitude will be adjusted between 2.25 and 6.0 T. This field is produced by adding a high-field solenoid and a cee coil to each end of the central cell. We describe these coils as well as the additions to the restraint structure. We analyzed the stresses within the solenoid using the STANSOL code. In addition, we performed a finite-element structural analysis of the complete magnet set with the SAP4 code. Particular attention was paid to the transition section where the new magnets were added and where the currents in the existing magnets were increased. The peak temperature rise in the throttle coil was calculated to be 41/sup 0/C above ambient.

During construction of the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U), we assembled a test stand to develop electronics for the neutral beam system. In the first six months of test stand use we operated a few neutral beam injector modules and directed considerable effort toward improving the electronic system. As system development progressed, our focus turned toward improving the injector modules themselves. The test stand has proved to be the largest single contributor to the successful operation of neutral beams on TMX-U, primarily because it provides quality assurance andd development capability in conjunction with the scheduled activities of the main experiment. This support falls into five major categories: (1) electronics development, (2) operator training, (3) injector module testing and characterization, (4) injector module improvements, and (5) physics improvements (through areas affected by injector operation). Normal day-to-day operation of the test stand comes under the third category, testing and characterization, and comprises our final quality assurance activity for newly assembled or repaired modules before they are installed on TMX-U.