Patent ID: 8279994

Claim:
A tokamak based reactor for breeding nuclear fuel from fertile material or transmutation of nuclear waste by-products of a nuclear fuel cycle, comprising: (a) a tokamak device device comprising: (1 ) a first toroidal chamber enclosed by walls and forming a torus about a central axis; (2 ) a plurality of current-carrying conductors adjacent to the first toroidal chamber and configured to produce: i) a magnetic field, wherein the magnetic field is comprised of closed magnetic surfaces and open magnetic field lines surrounding the closed magnetic surfaces, said closed magnetic surfaces defining a core region capable of confining a core plasma having an elongation of from 1.5 to 4 in a direction along the central axis, with the core plasma having an equatorial plane, plasma major radii and plasma minor radii, ii) a separatrix that forms a boundary between the open magnetic field lines and the closed magnetic surfaces, and iii) at least one stagnation point on the separatrix, wherein the at least one stagnation point is at a distance from the equatorial plane of the core plasma that is greater than the plasma minor radius; and (3 ) at least one outboard divertor plate within the first toroidal chamber at a location that intersects a portion of the open magnetic field lines produced by the current carrying conductors, wherein the at least one outboard divertor plate and current carrying conductors are further configured relative to one another such that the current carrying conductors expand the open magnetic field lines at the at least one outboard divertor plate; and the at least one outboard divertor plate is further configured within the first toroidal chamber to have an outboard major divertor radius that is greater than a sum of the plasma minor radius and the plasma major radius of a peak point of the core plasma that is closest to the at least one outboard divertor plate; and (b) a second chamber adjacent to the first toroidal chamber for housing the fertile material or waste by-products of a nuclear fuel cycle.