Advanced Diagnostics For Magnetic And Inertial Fusion

Advanced Diagnostics for Magnetic and Inertial Fusion

Proceedings of the International Conference on Advanced Diagnostics for Magnetic and Inertial Fusion, held September 3-7, 2001 at Villa Monastero, Varenna, Italy. This volume focuses on future diagnostic requirements for fusion energy research emphasizing advanced diagnostics, new techniques and areas where further progress is required.

Basic and Advanced Diagnostic Techniques for Fusion Plasmas

Fusion Physics

Humans do not live by bread alone. Physically we are puny creatures with limited prowess, but with unlimited dreams. We see a mountain and want to move it to carve out a path for ourselves. We see a river and want to tame it so that it irrigates our fields. We see a star and want to fly to its planets to secure a future for our progeny. For all this, we need a genie who will do our bidding at a flip of our fingers. Energy is such a genie. Modern humans need energy and lots of it to live a life of comfort. In fact, the quality of life in different regions of the world can be directly correlated with the per capita use of energy [1.1–1.5]. In this regard, the human development index (HDI) of various countries based on various reports by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) [1.6] (Fig. 1.1), which is a parameter measuring the quality of life in a given part of the world, is directly determined by the amount of per capita electricity consumption. Most of the developing world (~5 billion people) is crawling up the UN curve of HDI versus per capita electricity consumption, from abysmally low values of today towards the average of the whole world and eventually towards the average of the developed world. This translates into a massive energy hunger for the globe as a whole. It has been estimated that by the year 2050, the global electricity demand will go up by a factor of up to 3 in a high growth scenario [1.7–1.9]. The requirements beyond 2050 go up even higher.