Since the entire Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B) Magnet System was reconfigured from the original A-cell to an axicell design, much progress has been made on the design, fabrication, and installation planning. The axicell MFTF-B magnet array consists of a total of 26 large superconducting main coils. This paper provides an engineering overview of the progress of these coils. Recent studies on the effects of field errors on the plasma at the recircularizing region (transition coils) show that small field errors will generate large displacements of the field lines. These field errors might enhance radial electron heat transport and deteriorate the plasma confinement. Therefore, 16 superconducting trim coils have been designed to correct the coil misalignments. Progress of the trim coils are reported also.

A reflector for electron cyclotron resonant heating on the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade has been designed to convert the high-power TE/sub 01/ output of the circular waveguide system into a linearly polarized gaussian intensity pattern in the plasma. The reflector is a computer-generated holographic optical element with a twist polarizer. Its design, fabrication, and performance are discussed. Results of the low- and high-power tests are presented. Low-power tests were used to determine the beam pattern and the degree of cross-polarization. High-power tests verified that arcing across the grooves of the twist polarizer does not occur.

The Ion Cyclotron Resonant Heating (ICRH) slot antenna has been a part of the ion and electron plasma heating system in the central cell region of the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U). This paper presents the mechanical design and arrangement of the antenna, coax feed lines, feedthroughs, and matching network for the slot antenna.

Since its construction and commissioning was completed in the winter of 1981, the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U) has been conducting tandem mirror thermal barrier experiments. The work, following the fall of 1983 when strong plugging with thermal barriers was achieved, has been directed toward controlling radial transport and forming thermal barriers with high density and Beta. This paper describes the overall engineering component of these efforts. Major changes to the machine have included vacuum improvements, changes to the Electron and Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating systems (ECRH and ICRH), and the installation of a Plasma Potential Control system (PPC) for radial transport reduction. TMX-U operates an extensive diagnostics system that acquires data from 21 types of diagnostic instruments with more than 600 channels, in addition to 246 machine parameters. The changes and additions will be presented. The closing section of this paper will describe the initial study work for a proposed TMX-U octupole configured machine.

A 94-GHz microwave interferometer has been designed for the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade and the Mirror Fusion Test Facility to replace the 140-GHz system. The new system is smaller and has modular single-channel units designed for high reliability. It is magnetically shielded and can be mounted close to the machine, which allows the use of lower power solid-state sources. Test results of the 94-GHz prototype indicate that the phase resolution is better than 1/sup 0/, the Impatt FM noise is 5 MHz wide, and the Gunn FM noise is 6 kHz wide. This paper presents the antenna designs along with the test results and discusses the unique problems associated with diagnosing a high electron temperature plasma in the presence of electron cyclotron resonant heating.

This paper will describe changes to the previously reported Electron Cyclotron Resonant Heating (ECRH) circular waveguide systems that deliver power to the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U) machine. Four gyrotrons and associated waveguide systems, operating at 28-GHz and 200 kW each, helped establish electrostatic plugging in the end cells of TMX-U. A fifth gyrotron has been installed to power two resonant locations in the end plugs. This system and the pair of 10 kG heaters now use a slot radiator to obtain a more uniform coverage of the plasma. In addition, four 18-GHz ECRH systems have been added to the machine. 3 refs., 7 figs.

The Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been using a Computer Aided Design (CAD) graphics system to enhance its design capabilities since November of 1984. Three-dimensional models of the TMX-U magnet set, neutral beams, plasma, and containment vessel have been modeled on the system. These models are used for location verification, diagnostic placement, interference checking, and visualization of complex shapes generated on the Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer Center (MFECC) mainframes. The graphics system used at LLNL is a Computervision multi-application graphics system. Four other fusion laboratories, Princeton, Oak Ridge, General Atomic, and Los Alamos, have purchased this same CAD system. These sites are linked through the MFE computer network to allow for the exchange of design files and the transfer of physics and engineering data to and from the CAD systems. This paper gives examples of how the CAD system has been used to solve design and engineering problems for the TMX-U.

The mapping of the magnetic flux bundle from the center cell to the Plasma Potential Control plates (PPC) on the end fan of the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U), was improved by the addition of trim coils (12,000 amp-turns) on each side of each end fan next to the pump beam magnetic shields. The coils' axes are oriented perpendicular to the machine centerline. These coils made the necessary corrections to the field-line mapping, while keeping the field in the nearby pump beam magnetic shield below the saturation threshold. This paper briefly describes the problem, discusses the design as it evolved, and presents the results of the field testing. The disturbance to the field mapping and the appropriate corrections were determined using the code GFUN (a three dimensional electromagnetic field analysis code that includes the presence of permeable materials). The racetrack-shaped coils have dimensions of 1.5 feet by 3 feet and are powered by a renovated 600 kW Bart-Messing power supply controlled by the machine's magnet control system. The magnets were fabricated from polyimide-coated magnet wire. They are rated to 200/sup 0/C, although in pulsed operation they rise only a few degrees centigrade. The coils are placed outside of the vacuum …

The Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) uses several methods to feed gas (usually deuterium) at different energies into the plasma region of the machine. One is an arrangement of eight high-speed piezo-electric valves mounted on special manifolds (gas box) that feed cold gas directly to the plasma. This paper describes the electronic valve control and data acquisition portions of the gas box, which are controlled by a desk-top computer. Various flow profiles have been developed and stored in the control computer for ready access by the operator. The system uses two modes of operation, one that exercises and characterizes the valves and one that operates the valves with the rest of the experiment. Both the valve control signals and the pressure transducers data are recorded on the diagnostics computer so that they are available for experiment analysis.

Electron-beam vapor sources are now widely used in material processing sciences and coating technologies, such as the semiconductor industry for producing aluminum films on Si wafers; the metallurgical industry for melting, evaporating, and refining metals; and at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for vaporizing metals for laser isotope separation applications. Power for these sources ranges from the kW regime in the semiconductor industry to the multi-MW regime in laser separation technology. Operations of these sources can generate copious amounts of x rays by the direct and indirect interactions of the energetic electrons with the target materials. In this paper, we present the results of our calculations regarding the x-ray emission intensity, angular intensity and energy spectrum distribution, and shielding characteristics for vapor sources with acceleration voltages from 10 kV to 60 kV. 4 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs.

The octupole plug concept offers the attractive possibility of reducing the length of the plug and transition sections in tandem mirror reactors. In the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U), we are designing an octupole plug-transition that will replace our current quadrupole plug-transition. The reduction in length is made possible by the more nearly circular plasma cross section throughout the plug and transition sections. The principal physics of the design is the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stabilization of the core plasma in the plug by a hot electron ring in the mantle region surrounding the core. This hot electron mantle is MHD stable because of the good curvature field lines provided by the octupole. The positive radial pressure gradient in the hot electron mantle in turn stabilizes the core's plasma. Each octupole set consists of six coils replacing the transition and plug sets in the existing TMX-U experiment. The central cell coils will remain unchanged. Five of the coils for each of the new sets will be fabricated, while one, the 6-T mirror coil, will be reused from TMX-U. This paper will elaborate on the design configuration of the magnets. In particular, the configuration provides for adequate neutral beam lines-of-sight, and access for …

An approach has been formulated to route nuclear spent fuel over the US Interstate highway network. This approach involves the generation of alternative routes so that any potential adverse impacts will not only concentrate on regions along the shortest path between the nuclear power plant and repository. Extensive literature research on the shortest path finding algorithms has been carried out. Consequently, an extremely efficient shortest path algorithm has been implemented and significantly increases the overall system performance. State-of-the-art interactive computer graphics is used. In addition to easy-to-use pop-up menus, full color mapping and display capabilities are also incorporated. All of these features have been implemented on commonly available personal computers. 6 figs., 2 tabs.

We describe the design and performance of a time-of-flight (ToF) analyzer being built for installation on the east end cell of the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U). Its primary purpose is to measure the velocity distribution of escaping charge exchange neutral particles having energies between 20 and 5000 electron volts (eV). It also enables direct determination of the thermal barrier potential when used in conjunction with the plasma potential diagnostic and the end loss ion spectrometer. In addition, it can measure the velocity distribution of passing ions leaving the central cell and of ions trapped in the thermal barrier.

During the past four years, the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U) magnet system has operated successfully, delivering more than 13,300 full-power shots. This paper presents the expanded physics criteria and how they affect the magnetic field design. It compares our operational results with previously defined criteria for current repeatability, cooling, duty cycle and vacuum integrity. It also details the solutions to a few operational problems, including the discovery and repair of a ground fault in the east plug Ioffe and another in an east plug cee circuit power supply. 14 refs.

This paper reviews the mechanical design and improvements that have taken place on the loop type ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) antennas that are located in the center cell region of the Tandem Mirror Experiment-Upgrade (TMX-U).