DescriptionAEC-71-9059 CONTROLLED THERMONUCLEAR RESEARCH…MAGNETIC MIRRORS…The 2X magnetic-mirror experiment at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Livermore, is one of three principal plasma experiments in the world that have achieved plasma conditions approaching those needed for a thermonuclear reactor. The mean ion energy achieved so far is 8.000 electron velts (about 80 million degrees centigrade) at a density of 5X1013 ions per cubic centimetre. The plasma slowly decays with an initial half-life of about 400 microseconds. This lifetime corresponds to a loss rate close to the maximum achievable according to classical theory. In this drawing of the 2X II facility, the 5-foot-diameter vacuum and pulsed magnet systems are shown located in the 23-foot-long direct current (d.c.) magnet. The old pulsed magnet system has been replaced by one of advanced design which allows the use of the unique crossed-box central vacuum chamber. The improved facility, together with efforts to increase the ion energy, should provide considerably more stringent tests of the theoretically predicted conditions for stable mirror confinement. Credit: Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Livermore
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