Shiva Star
A pulsed-power facility at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, NM. Originally built in the 1970s for nuclear weapons effects simulation, Shiva Star stores up to 10 megajoules of energy and discharges it in microseconds. It was used for magnetized target fusion experiments, including the AFRL Shiva Star implosion experiments that compressed FRC plasmas to high densities.
Verified Primary Sources
- → LANL MagnetizedTargetFusion 1994 (p. 9) — 1994 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL MagnetizedTargetFusion 1994 (p. 10) — 1994 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL SNL ZMachine PuICE Waste 2012 (p. 10) — 2012 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL EconomicalFusionPower 2017 (p. 3) — 2017 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
- → LANL Hsu Economical Fusion 2017 (p. 3) — 2017 — Los Alamos National Laboratory
External Primary Sources
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Timeline Mentions (8)
Project Sherwood established
The U.S. AEC's classified controlled-fusion program begins at LANL and partner labs.
Christofilos begins Astron experiment at LLNL
Greek engineer starts E-layer field reversal concept. Earliest compact torus conception. Presented at 1958 Geneva.
Christofilos Astron experiment at LLNL
The Astron experiment established the field-reversed configuration geometry that prefigured modern FRC research.
Pulsed Power Technology Growth
Pulsed power technology begins rapid development, supported by the Atomic Energy Commission and Defense Nuclear Agency for radiation source testing.
First Formal Documentation of FRC Topology
H.A.B. Bodin publishes a paper in Nuclear Fusion describing 'reversed field loops' within a theta-pinch, providing physical evidence of the FRC state.
Inertial-Confinement Flux-Trapping Model Proposed
T.S. Green and A.A. Newton propose that magnetic flux is lost via rapid convection at the radial Alfvén speed, a foundational theory for FRC formation.
Discovery of FRC Anomalous Stability
Experiments at LANL discover that Field-Reversed Configurations (FRCs) are significantly more stable than predicted by MHD theory.
Astron experiment funding cancelled at LLNL
16-year project ends without achieving field reversal. Compact torus concept disperses to spheromak and FRC research.