BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
BEGIN:VEVENT
SEQUENCE:3
UID:UW-Physics-Event-8440
DTSTART:20231002T170000Z
DTEND:20231002T181500Z
DTSTAMP:20260414T013406Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230929T125430Z
LOCATION:1610 Engineering Hall
SUMMARY:The High-field Stellarator Path to Fusion Energy pursued by Ty
 pe One Energy\, Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar\,  Thomas 
 Pederson\, Type One Energy
DESCRIPTION:Stellarators offer substantial advantages as fusion power 
 plants\, including intrinsic steady-state operation\, low recirculatin
 g power\, benign heat loads onto the plasma-facing components (PFCs)\,
  and the absence of complications associated with runaway electron bea
 ms.  These benefits have been shown in a number of experiments\, in pa
 rticular Wendelstein 7-X\, which also has shown substantial reduction 
 of neoclassical transport through a careful computational optimisation
  of the magnetic topology. New optimisation codes are producing stella
 rator magnetic configurations which are substantially better\, in part
 icular with respect to fast-particle confinement.
\n<br>
\n<br>
\nOwin
 g to the relatively small amount of plasma-generated magnetic field\, 
 they are also less self-organized than many other fusion concepts\, ma
 king their performance more predictable. 
\n<br>
\n<br>
\nDue to these
  advantages\, and recent technological advances allowing substantially
  higher magnetic field strengths and much more rapid production of the
  highly three-dimensional hardware needed for stellarators\, a fast pa
 th to a net-power-producing high-field stellarator first-of-a-kind pow
 er plant appears feasible.
\n<br>
\n<br>
\nThis talk will start with a
  brief introduction to stellarators\, then review recent advances in s
 tellarator science and technology\, and give an update on Type One Ene
 rgy’s plans for commercializing stellarator fusion energy.<br>
\n <b
 r>
\n <br>
\nBiography:<br>
\nThomas Sunn Pedersen received his PhD in
  2000 from MIT\, working on soft-x-ray diagnostics and impurity transp
 ort on Alcator C-Mod\, advised by Robert Granetz and Miklos Porkolab. 
 That same year he joined the Columbia University faculty\, where he ov
 ersaw the conception\, design and construction of the CNT stellarator\
 , which went into operation in 2004\, dedicated to the studies of non-
 neutral plasmas confined on magnetic surfaces\, and the effects of ExB
  drifts on the confinement of particles in a classical stellarator. In
  2011\, he left Columbia University to take on the position as Directo
 r of Stellarator Edge and Divertor Physics at the Max Planck Institute
  for Plasma Physics\, working on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator\, and
  teaching as a Professor of Physics at the University of Greifswald\, 
 Germany\, to a fully cooled\, quasi-steady-state capable device in 202
 2. At the start of 2023\, he joined the Type One Energy Group as Chief
  Technology Officer\, pursuing a rapid path to high-field stellarator-
 based fusion net energy production.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=8440
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR