Physics fundamentals for ITER

Abstract

The design of an experimental thermonuclear reactor requires both cutting-edge technology and physics predictions precise enough to carry forward the design. The past few years of worldwide physics studies have seen great progress in understanding, innovation and integration. We will discuss this progress and the remaining issues in several key physics areas. (1) Transport and plasma confinement. A worldwide database has led to an `empirical scaling law' for tokamaks which predicts adequate confinement for the ITER fusion mission, albeit with considerable but acceptable uncertainty. The ongoing revolution in computer capabilities has given rise to new gyrofluid and gyrokinetic simulations of microphysics which may be expected in the near future to attain predictive accuracy. Important databases on H-mode characteristics and helium retention have also been assembled. (2) Divertors, heat removal and fuelling. A novel concept for heat removal - the radiative, baffled, partially detached divertor - has been designed for ITER. Extensive two-dimensional (2D) calculations have been performed and agree qualitatively with recent experiments. Preliminary studies of the interaction of this configuration with core confinement are encouraging and the success of inside pellet launch provides an attractive alternative fuelling method. (3) Macrostability. The ITER mission can be accomplished well within ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability limits, except for internal kink modes. Comparisons with JET, as well as a theoretical model including kinetic effects, predict such sawteeth will be benign in ITER. Alternative scenarios involving delayed current penetration or off-axis current drive may be employed if required. The recent discovery of neoclassical beta limits well below ideal MHD limits poses a threat to performance. Extrapolation to reactor scale is as yet unclear. In theory such modes are controllable by current drive profile control or feedback and experiments should be forthcoming soon. Recent results on JET and TFTR have confirmed qualitative understanding of alpha particle driven toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs). Present predictions for TAE effects in ITER are favourable, but require further work. The large stored energies in ITER have focused attention on disruption physics. Databases for thermal and current quenches, vertical displacement events (VDEs) and halo currents have enabled thermomechanical design. Some questions remain open as to the production, confinement and localization of runaway electrons in potentially unstable plasmas and mitigation strategies have been proposed. Other crucial ITER needs such as diagnostics, control and heating appear to have acceptable solutions. All this rich physics requires experimental validation by a reactor-scale plasma and care has been taken to provide sufficient flexibility for ITER to cover a wide range of scenarios.