tokamak

English

WOTD – 12 June 2019

Etymology

An illustration of a tokamak chamber

A model of ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), an experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor being built in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Provence, France. When completed in the 2020s, it will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.

Borrowed from Russian токама́к (tokamák), an acronym of то(роида́льная) ка́(мера) (с) ма(гни́тными) к(ату́шками) (to(roidálʹnaja) ká(mera) (s) ma(gnítnymi) k(atúškami), “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtəʊkəmæk/
• IPA^(key): /ˈtoʊkəmæk/
• Hyphenation: to‧ko‧mak

Noun

tokamak (plural tokamaks)

1. (nuclear physics) A torus-shaped chamber used in nuclear fusion research in which a plasma is magnetically confined. [from 20th c.]
   • 1963 November, E. P. Gorbunov, K. A. Razumova, “The Effect of a Strong Magnetic Field on the Magnetohydrodynamic Stability of Plasma and the Containment of Charged Particles in the ‘Tokamak’”, in Soviet Atomic Energy, volume 15, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Consultants Bureau, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1105:

     Studies of electrodeless discharges in a strong longitudinal magnetic field, carried out on the stellarator and the "Tokamak", have shown that in such systems the plasma becomes unstable for currents appreciably les than the critical current of Shafranov-Kruskal.

   • 1975, J. W. Lue, R. W. Conn, “Superconducting Toroidal Field Magnets for a Tokamak Engineering Test Reactor”, in K. D. Timmerhaus and D. H. Weitzel, editors, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering, volume 21, New York, N.Y., London: Plenum Press, →OCLC, page 41; republished Boston, Mass.: Springer, 2013, →DOI, →ISBN, page 41:

     A Tokamak engineering test reactor (TETR) will be an important component of any national or international program to achieve viable Tokamak fusion power reactors.

   • 1982, “Controlled Nuclear Fusion”, in Energy in Transition 1985–2010: Final Report of the Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, →ISBN, page 390:

     Of magnetic fusion experiments, those in Tokamaks are closest to achieving the combination of confinement conditions needed for a reactor.

   • 1989 September–October, D. Benningfield, “Funds Requested to Speed Up Nuclear Fusion Experiments”, in Ernstine Wheelock, editor, Alcalde, volume 78, number 1, Austin, Tx.: The Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 43, column 1:

     Researchers use large doughnut-shaped vessels called tokomaks to try to achieve the critical temperature and density needed for fusion to begin. A tokomak uses powerful magnetic fields to contain hydrogen, which is heated to several million degrees. As the strength of the magnetic field increases, it squeezes the plasma, resulting in a higher temperature and density.

   • 2014 March 3, Raffi Khatchadourian, “A Star in a Bottle: An Audacious Plan to Create a New Energy Source could Save the Planet from Catastrophe. But Time is Running Out.”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 December 2018:

     Slowly, the solenoid—all one thousand tons of it—will be carried to the tokamak and lowered into the center of the vacuum chamber.

Alternative forms

• tokomak

Coordinate terms

• stellarator

Derived terms

• spheromak

Translations

A torus-shaped chamber in which a plasma is magnetically confined

• French: tokamak (fr) m
• German: Tokamak m
• Japanese: トカマク (tokamaku)
• Korean: 토카막 (tokamak)
• Portuguese: tokamak m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: токама́к (ru) m (tokamák)
• Serbo-Croatian: tokàmak (sh) m, тока̀мак m
• Spanish: Tokamak m
• Turkish: dokumak (tr)

Further reading

• tokamak on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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French

A plasma within a tokamak

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian токама́к (tokamák).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɔ.ka.mak/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tokamak m (plural tokamaks)

1. tokamak

Coordinate terms

• stellarator