In one minute

Christopher Galea, Stephanie Thomas, Michael Paluszek and Samuel Cohen review the Princeton Field-Reversed Configuration, a fusion concept that prioritises low neutron output and small size. Plasma inside a cylinder of coils is confined and heated by external radio-frequency antennas driving a rotating magnetic field. The PFRC-1 and PFRC-2 experiments heated electrons well above 100 eV and sustained plasmas for 300 ms, over 10^4 times the predicted tilt instability growth time. Deuterium and helium-3 fuel could suit the high-beta configuration, and the small size would let tritium ash be exhausted quickly. The planned 1–10 MW reactors would suit uses from submarines and cities to space propulsion.

The Princeton Field-Reversed Configuration for Compact Nuclear Fusion Power Plants