Compact Experimental Negative TriAngUlarity Reactor (CENTAUR): A design study for a compact, affordable breakeven tokamak

@misc{collaboration2026compact,
  title = {{Compact Experimental Negative TriAngUlarity Reactor (CENTAUR): A design study for a compact, affordable breakeven tokamak}},
  author = {The CENTAUR Collaboration and Samuel W. Freiberger and Evan Bursch and Javier Chiriboga and Hiro J. Farre-Kaga and Eliot Felske and Sophia Guizzo and John Labbate and Shreyas Seethalla and Frederick Sheehan and Jamie L. Xia and Anson Braun and Daniel A. Burgess and Nathaniel Chen and Jacob Halpern and Mohammed Haque and Abdullah Hyder and Alexandra Lachmann and Rohan Lopez and Kian Orr and Kalen Richardson and Melanie Russo and Avigdor Veksler and Christopher J. Hansen and Andreas Holm and Nils Leuthold and Orso Meneghini and Andrew O. Nelson and Matthew Pharr and Tim Slendebroek and Ian G. Stewart and Filippo Scotti and Matthew Tobin and Haley Wilson and C. F. B. Zimmermann and Carlos Paz-Soldan},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.27549},
  eprint = {2605.27549},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27549},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Compact Experimental Negative TriAngUlarity Reactor (CENTAUR): A design study for a compact, affordable breakeven tokamak
AU  - The CENTAUR Collaboration
AU  - Samuel W. Freiberger
AU  - Evan Bursch
AU  - Javier Chiriboga
AU  - Hiro J. Farre-Kaga
AU  - Eliot Felske
AU  - Sophia Guizzo
AU  - John Labbate
AU  - Shreyas Seethalla
AU  - Frederick Sheehan
AU  - Jamie L. Xia
AU  - Anson Braun
AU  - Daniel A. Burgess
AU  - Nathaniel Chen
AU  - Jacob Halpern
AU  - Mohammed Haque
AU  - Abdullah Hyder
AU  - Alexandra Lachmann
AU  - Rohan Lopez
AU  - Kian Orr
AU  - Kalen Richardson
AU  - Melanie Russo
AU  - Avigdor Veksler
AU  - Christopher J. Hansen
AU  - Andreas Holm
AU  - Nils Leuthold
AU  - Orso Meneghini
AU  - Andrew O. Nelson
AU  - Matthew Pharr
AU  - Tim Slendebroek
AU  - Ian G. Stewart
AU  - Filippo Scotti
AU  - Matthew Tobin
AU  - Haley Wilson
AU  - C. F. B. Zimmermann
AU  - Carlos Paz-Soldan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/26
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.27549
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27549
AB  - This work presents the compact experimental negative triangularity reactor (CENTAUR), a low overnight cost, high-field tokamak, breakeven reactor design, achieving a predicted total fusion power of 40MW and scientific energy gain of 1.3. Ballooning stability calculations confirm that the device's pedestal is within the first stability regime, which is consistent with the expected ELM-free operation associated with negative triangularity (NT) plasmas. The geometry of the NT divertor allows for high fraction of radiated power (13.5%) between the separatrix and plasma facing components. Heat transport modeling based on simulations of the edge region show heat loads into plasma facing components well below material limits. The magnet system employs rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) high-temperature superconductors in 18 toroidal field coils, an hourglass-shaped central solenoid, and six poloidal field coils to support high-field (B_0=10.9 T) plasma confinement, shaping, and current drive. Neutronics analysis shows that a 12 cm B_4C shield keeps superconducting magnet heating below the 33~K quench limit during 10 s, 40 MW DT pulses. With this shielding, the modeled fluence indicates HTS components can survive more than ten times the 3000-pulse design lifetime. Iteration of economic analysis in tandem with the technical design process allows CENTAUR to achieve its overnight cost goal of $2B determined using a custom costing model that predicts a total overnight cost of $1.6B\pm0.2$B.
ER  -