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Llvermore, CA. , U.S.A. 



TANDEM MIRROR EXPERIMENT UPGRADE (TMX-U) 

 Lawrence Llvermore National Laboratory (LLNL) 

 U.S. Dept. of Energy 



"Big Science" Descriptor : Magnetic fusion 



Description of Facility/Instrument : The objective of TMX~U Is to test 

 the basic principles of a thermal barrier tandem mirror. The 

 TMX-U mirror device uses, as basic elements, two mirror cells 

 placed at either end of a central cell. The mirrors act as 

 "plugs" to Increase the plasma confinement time in the central 

 cell. A region known as the thermal barrier is also created 

 in the plug to isolate electrons in the plug from the center 

 cell. This thermal barrier helps to increase plugging. Scaling 

 of the thermal barrier tandem mirror will be tested in the 

 Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B), see next page. 



Date of Construction : 1978 for TMX, 1980 for TMX-U 



Construction Cost : Original : $20 million 



1984 $$ : $40 million 



Present International Cooperation 



Natlonallty(s) of Ownership : U.S. 



Natlonality(s) of Operational Funding : U.S. 



Nationality (s) of Management Staff : U.S. 



Nationality (s) of Researchers : U.S., although there has been 



modest International collaboration on this device, approxi- 

 mately one man-year per year. It has been primarily with 

 the Japanese and to a lesser extent with the Soviets. 



Other Information : The project originated in 1978 as TMX (Tandem 



Mirror Experiment) at a cost of about $20 million (1978 dollars). 

 Because of successful results, it was modified in 1980 to TMX-U 

 (Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade) at a cost of about $20 million 

 (1980 dollars). Since then, there have been a few minor addi- 

 tions in the areas of pumping power and diagnostics. The current 

 estimated cost (1984 dollars) for the facility is approximately 

 $40 million, which Includes the cost of TMX-U, the parts retained 

 from TMX (about $10 million), and various additions. 



