Calculations of impurity radiation and its effects on tokamak experiments

Abstract

The impurity radiation for typical tokamak parameters has been numerically calculated using an “average-ion model”. Coronal equilibrium values for the emission of oxygen, iron, molybdenum, tungsten and gold were determined from the steady-state solutions of a set of related rate equations which included the effects of electron collisional ionization and excitation, dielectronic and radiative recombination, Δn = 0 and Δn ≠ 0 line transitions, and bremsstrahlung. The results for oxygen, iron, and molybdenum compare very well with other calculations. Since impurities diffusing in a tokamak are not expected to be in coronal equilibrium, time-dependent radiation calculations were also performed. A comparison of these non-equilibrium loss rates with those calculated under the assumption of coronal equilibrium indicates that coronal radiation calculations do not significantly underestimate the moderate- and high-Z impurity radiation losses for neoclassical diffusion velocities in large tokamaks, such as Princeton Large Torus and Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor. Finally, the detailed steady-state emission rates were used to investigate the effects of various concentrations of impurities on the neτ requirements for breakeven, ignition, and Q = 5 beam-driven reactor experiments.