TORUS COMPLETE! Volume 11, Number 2 March-April 1974 “AT 0M Published bimonthly by the University of California, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Ofice of Public Information, TA-3, West Jernez Road, Los Alamos, New fifexico 87544. Address mail to P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544. Second Class Postage Paid at Los Alamos, N.M. I 1 Scyllac: Closing the Gap COVER 7 Agnew Speaks Out A moment long awaited by the LOS Alamos Scientific Laboratory-and by the 12 Science Spectrum Atomic Energy Commission and seg- ments of the scientific-industrial com- 14 Photo Shorts munity with a stake in energy sources of 16 Short Subjects the future-arrived last month when Scyllac’s torus was at last complete. 17 Among Our Guests How Scyllac has “come full circle” and 18 Service Awards what may lie ahead in Controlled Ther- monuclear Research is described in the 20 The Iron Dogs of Anaktuvuk Pass article beginning on Page 1. 24 10 Years Ago in Los Alamos There to record the moment was Bill Jack Rodgers, ISD-7. This mare-than routine photo required more than rou- tine preparation. Group CTR-3 hung a scaffold from the ceiling, onto which Rodgers climbed from the Scyllac build- ing’s overhead crane. There, lashed securely by a safety strap, Rodgers liter- ally swung from the rafters to give The Atom readers an unusual perspective of Scyllac-and one which is not likely to be repeated soon. Editor: Jack Nelson Photography: Bill Jack Rodgers, Henry Ortega, “Mitzi” Ulibarri, Wayne Hanson Office: D-442-BAdministration Building. Tele- phone: 665-6102. Printed by the University of New Mexico Printing Plant, Albuquerque. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, an equal opportunity employer, is operated by the Uni- versity of California for the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Frcd Rilm, C’CK-Division leader, untl George Suwyer, alternate division leader, look over sprawling Scyllac itistcrlla~ioti--crnd wonder wliai‘s trl-itmd in Contridled Therrnnnucleur Research now that the torus is complete. Y BB first coiitrollctl tliernionurlcar rr- sriircli in tlic whimsically namcd I’rrliapsation of 1953 to the prcscnt inmmiotli apparatus filling a build- ing tlic si/e oi a gymnasium, they liitd trod a path in time measuring 22 ycars aiid rnarkcd by many thou- sands of experiments. Coinplct ing the “doiighnut,” thus trcatiiig a tirbc withoui rnds lrorn which I>lasl1ii1( arinot escape, at last gives CY It-4 tlic hardware to test what has long becn prcdictcd: the lull torus sliould extend thermo- nnclcar burn 5 to LO times its prcscnt cluiation. 1 “Bridge deck“ of Scyllac was in- stalled in 1971. Warren Quinn, now CTR-3 group leader, posed at the time with the then new equipment. If theory proves correct, it will be -Extended plasma containment The theta-pinch principle estab- a bright omen for a nation acutely time from 12 microseconds achiev- lishes this magnetic field around aware of the necessity to develop cd with 1/3 of the open-end tor- the chamber at right angles to the ncw cnergy sources. It will mean oidal sector during the last 2 years axis of the torus. The force created that the eventual generation of to 50-100 microseconds within the pushes the plasma towards the powcr in massive amounts, by fuel closed chamber. chamber axis. from the ocean sufficient for mil- Achieving these objectives would i\ problem in the theta-pinch lions of years, may be a realistic lead to larger, more advanced process is that when applied in a expectation. Scyllac configurations in the future simple torus, magnetic flux is capable of containing burning denser along the shorter inner- Moments of Truth Ahead plasma for 1/ 100 second, thereby chamber circumference than the Now suspense will mount as the producing energy equal to the outer. ‘I’he plasma tends to drift pace of experimentation quickens. amount required for maintaining towards the outer wall because it Significant events may follow in the fusion reaction. encounters less pressure from that direction. months rather than the years of the Theta-Pinch pre-Scyllac era now ended. By fall, Compensating for this is a large In the theta-pinch concept, mag- CTK-3hopes it will have: part of what recent Scyllac research -Tuned the massive, computer- netic forces are employed to com- has been about. Part of the solution monitored apparatus to balance press plasma away from material is in the present intricate “cork- magnetic energies of 10 megajoules walls because no known substance screw” chamber-a computer-de- can contain plasma heated to tem- with such delicacy that they will signed geometry of hairpinlike wig- peratures exceeding those within align the compressed plasma per- gles equalizing the 2 circumferences. the sun. Magnetic fields are un- fectly along a complex helical axis Sculpting this complex shape affected by heat. at pressures on the order of 120 into custom-machined solid alum- By stripping electron shells from atmospheres (about 1 ton per inum coils requires a sophisticated atoms ot deuterium (a hydrogen milling head made in Italy by only square inch). isotope) in the gaseous state, accom- 1 company of its kind. Bob Barnes, -Conducted as many as 1,000 ex- plished in the chamber by a rela- shop foreman, Jim Robinson, Wen- perimental shots. Groups CTR-3 tively mild preliminary magnetic dell “Smitty” Smith, Emmanuel and CTR-8 will make basic meas- pulse, a plasma ol nuclei and free “Mike” Spanos, and Ray Voos have urements including neutron pro- electrons is created. This plasma is spent 4 months completing this duction (the major source of usable then compressed by an extremely work. thermonuclear energy), plasma tem- strong magnetic field, The abrupt But these ingenious contortions perature, plasma pressure, and the compression generates a tempera- don’t solve the problem entirely, so key measurement of all: the time ture of 10-20 million degrees Celsius, CTR-3 and CTR-4 have devised a burning plasma can be contained. precipitating the fusion reaction. continued on page 4 2 feedback system to push the others, and prompted by reports of projcct was named Sherwood-an pinchcd plasma back into position controlled thermonuclear rcsearch obvious allusion to the Merry Men’s as ncccssary. Sensors report a drift about to start in other countries, habitat. dcvcloping and relay this warning Admiral Lewis Stiauss, then AEC Following inconclusive, but none- to amplifiers. I‘hcse in turn deliver chairman, asked a number of scicn- theless encouraging, experiments in a compensating magnetic jolt-all Lists in 1953 to advise him of the tlic Perhapsatron of 1953, Scylla I in 1 millionth of a second. feasibility of controlled thermonu- was built. The name, taken from If all goes with perfection, the clear fusion. Greek mythology, is that of a 6- violently compressed ions interact, Told that prospects were prom- hcaded, 12-footed monster which fusing to form helium nuclei and in ising, Strauss detcrmincd to launch dwelt in thc Straits of Messina tlic process relcasiiig an avalanche a piogram at once. across irom a whirIpool and had a of neutrons and large amounts of Normally, major progiaim such voracious appctite for sailors. The encrgy. as this require a year or more lor name is associated with a particu- Out of the Forest planning and funding. Strauss by- larly difficult passage, no doubt the Scyllac is a major experiment in passed this with a bit of legitimate reason the name was chosen for the the Atomic Energy Commission’s banditry. tlicta-pinch program. Controllctl Thermonuclcar Re- Finding a contract at thc Massa- Scylla I was a linear devicc- search (CTR) program, until re- chusetts Institute of Technology ielatively easy and cheap to build, ccntly called Project Sherwood. with an underrun, Strauss, like and while its straight tube permit- Following somc early theorizing Robin Hood, took lrom the “iich” ted escape of thc pinched plasma and research by Edward Teller, to give to the “poor”-in this case, irom the ends, it allowed much Jim Tuck (former LASL P-Division LASL’s controlled thermonuclear experimentation. It was in Scylla I associate leader, now retired), and 1csearch program. The thcn-secret (subsequently donated to the Robert Barnes and Wendell Smith, both SD-5, check Granddaddy of all CTR research devices is the Perhaps- freshly machined aluminum coil. Note curve of cham- atron. This earliest known photo (1953) shows Emory ber. Coils with configurations like this give chamber StovaII, CTR-6, in foreground. Device was in long- its ”corkscrew” shape. since demolished U-Building, vicinity of Los Alamos Inn. 4 Eerie “electric trees” seemingly grow from a metal land- scape in this 1969 photo taken of a test of Scyllac pro- totype coil. A 55,000-volt discharge which flowed over a mylar sheet invisible in photo created the effect. loius. ‘J’hc llowirig lithiiim would tions OC tlie cyclc. In addition, lhc IIiiiislcr heat to Itcat cxclinngers, cxhaust tvould be rccyclcd to rc- whidi in turii would ~IO~LKCstcam ( ovci un1)urricd clruteriurn (for a& for I iirl)o-geiic,1-iitors. (In more ad tlitional Fuel) and hcliuiit which vm(ctl sclic,irics, Iicat would I)c would bemine availilble 1or com- tr;indoirnetl tlircctly into clcctri- incrt ial piposes. Lithium would (ity.) bo pi ocesscd to yicltl tritium, a V,ilvcs would opcri to cxli;iu5t tlie inan-rriadt, iwtopc whit h more !,perit gas, ;ind ii rtcw cytlc would I catlily igiii~es in thcrmonuclcar Iqin: i rij t~ iion, corrii)l-c4sioti-igni- I)Ulll. lion, power, cxharist. Evcry 3-10 ‘1 hc net power output, assuming wcoiids (tnoi c Crequcnily iC a rool- ;I toius 14 tiirirs tlic diameter or iiig ~ystcrii;incl laster cxliaust sys- it of tlic present Sc yllx, would ~ciiiXVCIC atltlcrl), thc great cqinc bc 1,200 n1cgaw;ltIs.