QS-CPP-95 Modification B
Employing the long-ignored discovery of the BSCCO high-temperature superconductor, we adapt the reactor's system to utilize its two layers better. The first layer is the water jacket and lithium blanket, the second is the magnets, which now utilize superconductors and liquid nitrogen cooling for maximum effectiveness. The water (And shielding) will prevent the heat from interfering with the magnets. The use of superconductors can produce higher-power yet smaller and more efficient magnets, which means we can use more magnets, which improves the uniformity of the magnetic field and prevents leakages and instabilities.
QS-CPP-95 Modification B (Hard): (1+3)-1=3: Buggy MessSo... the good news is, the Beacon is now slightly more effective. The bad news is, it's still got a Q of less than 1. When it even works.
We successfully manufactured BSCCO, and built LN2-cooled superconducting magnets to replace our electromagnets. The problems started with the liquid nitrogen cooling. Whilst technically true that BSCCO becomes a superconductor at a balmy 108K, peak performance requires substantially lower temperatures- lower than we can reach with LN2 alone. Also, there's a problem with what our physicists call the "irreversibility field H*"- apparently BSCCO's H* is relatively low, which we are assured is a bad thing.
On top of that, the cooling unit leaks, and the magnet's power supply has an extremely unfortunate tendency to fluctuate randomly. And what's worse, we have no idea why either of these things happen.
So... when it works, the reactor leaks slightly less plasma, and possesses a slightly higher Q as a result. But it doesn't work often.
No doubt in the future fusion power will be considered a major boon to Quillian society. For now, the only thing the Beacon illuminates is our failures.
Another year over. The "D Mission" has been made official; public reception is good. Funding for weapons research continues to come in, which means that it is the
Design Phase of SY96, and it is time to get to work.