Titans of Nuclear: Phil Ferguson | Innovating Magnetic Fields (Pt. 8)

Bret Kugelmass: What temperature do high temperature superconducting magnets operate at?

Phil Ferguson: High temperature superconducting magnets typically operate on hundreds of Kelvin. If liquid helium isn’t needed to cool the magnets, there is a tremendous savings in what needs to be done in cooling. REBCO is a rare-earth material that can be made in a very strong magnetic field into a very thin tape. Those tapes can be used to construct a magnet for a tokamak which could double the field size or more. Radiation can displace atoms from its lattice site and can also generate gas in a material. Fission reactors are very high displacement rate with very low gas. Fast reactors produce 10 times more gas with a high displacement rate. 14 MeV neutrons, or fusion neutrons, produce copious amounts of gas but not as many displacements per atom. The same material scientists like to apply their skills across the field, in light water, fast reactor, and fusion applications. Fusion is important because it creates an energy source that costs almost nothing and that produces a waste which is helium gas. This technology is something that should be strived for.