CANCELED: Plasma Physics Colloquium with Dennis Whyte, MIT
This seminar has been canceled and will be reschedule at a later date.
Plasma Physics Colloquium
Speaker: Dennis Whyte, MIT
Director, MIT Plasma Science & Fusion Center
Hitachi America Professor of Engineering
Professor, Nuclear Science & Engineering
Title: Technology Advancements and Need for High-Field Fusion
Abstract: Recent advancements in Rare-Earth Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) high-temperature superconductors have fundamentally altered the pathways to achieving plasma burn and fusion pilot plants using magnetic confinement. The integrated technical innovations of a large-bore >20 tesla REBCO magnet will be reviewed, as well as progress on the construction and mission of the SPARC device. The advent of compact, high-power density MFE fusion devices are placing more emphasis on the development of associated fusion technologies compatible with this pathway and the eventual economic goals of fusion. Several new initiatives at the PSFC on this pathway are described including a prototype liquid blanket and new concepts about developing and testing fusion materials.
Bio: Dennis G. Whyte is the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, and director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A recognized leader in fusion research, especially in the magnetic confinement of plasmas, Whyte has paved an innovative and faster path to producing fusion energy. He leads the fusion project, SPARC — a compact, high-field, net fusion energy fusion device — in collaboration with private fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The core of the SPARC project was formed over eight years ago during a design course led by Whyte to challenge assumptions in fusion. Many of the ideas underpinning the high-field approach — including the use of HTS for high-field, demountable magnets, liquid blankets, and ARC (a fusion power plant concept) — have been conceived of or significantly advanced in his design courses. Whyte has over 300 publications, is a fellow of the American Physical Society, and has served on panels for the National Academies, the United States government, and the Royal Society. In 2018 Whyte received The Fusion Power Associates (FPA) Board of Directors Leadership Award which is given annually to individuals who have shown outstanding leadership qualities in accelerating the development of fusion. Whyte earned a BS from the University of Saskatchewan, and an MS and PhD from Université du Québec.
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