The SPARC tokamak: towards a burning plasma in this decade by Dr. Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez/ IAP2021

PSFC Research Scientist, Dr. Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez spoke about the SPARC tokamak and the path towards burning plasma in this decade during MIT's 2021 Independent Activities period (IAP). MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems are developing the first fusion device to produce net-energy plasmas. This ambitious goal, expected by the second half of this decade, will be possible thanks to new high-field magnet technology. Both empirical models and physics-informed supercomputer simulations show that SPARC plasmas will generate ten times more energy than they will absorb, which will allow scientists to study the fascinating physics of burning plasmas. This talk will introduce the key concepts required to understand magnetic fusion energy and will lay the foundations to the high-field path to fusion energy and the SPARC tokamak.