A Development Path for the Stabilized Spheromak

In Refs. [1] - [3], I suggest a concerted computational effort to study profile control of spheromaks, in anticipation that it is timely to incorporate the q < 1 regime of RFP's and spheromaks into an integrated advanced toroidal confinement program, together with improvements in tokamaks and stellarators now being pursued. For profile control of spheromaks by neutral beam injection, with care to avoid super-Alfvenic beam instability the main issue is excitation of tearing modes that can be studied using the NIMROD code already calibrated to MST and SSPX. In this note, I show that profile control on spheromaks could be demonstrated in a device the size of SSPX, leading ultimately to a very compact ignition facility, and possibly modular fusion reactors with a shorter development path