IAEA Fusion Energy Conference Research Articles

Nuclear Fusion Articles Arising from Papers Presented at the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Virtual Event, 10–15 May 2021)

Nuclear Fusion Articles Arising from Papers Presented at the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Virtual Event, 10–15 May 2021)

Author Index of Nuclear Fusion Articles Arising from Papers Presented at the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Virtual Event, 10–15 May 2021)

Author Index of Nuclear Fusion Articles Arising from Papers Presented at the 28th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Virtual Event, 10–15 May 2021)

Progress of HL-2A experiments and HL-2M program

Since the last IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in 2018, significant progress of the experimental program of HL-2A has been achieved on developing advanced plasma physics, edge localized mode (ELM) control physics and technology. Optimization of plasma confinement has been performed. In particular, high-β N H-mode plasmas exhibiting an internal transport barrier have been obtained (normalized plasma pressure β N reached up to 3). Injection of impurity improved the plasma confinement. ELM control using resonance magnetic perturbation or impurity injection has been achieved in a wide parameter regime, including types I and III. In addition, impurity seeding with supersonic molecular beam injection or laser blow-off techniques has been successfully applied to actively control the plasma confinement and instabilities, as well as plasma disruption with the aid of disruption prediction. Disruption prediction algorithms based on deep learning are developed. A prediction accuracy of 96.8% can be reached by assembling a convolutional neural network. Furthermore, transport resulting from a wide variety of phenomena such as energetic particles and magnetic islands has been investigated. In parallel with the HL-2A experiments, the HL-2M mega-ampere class tokamak was commissioned in 2020 with its first plasma. Key features and capabilities of HL-2M are briefly presented.

Advances in the long-pulse steady-state high beta H-mode scenario with active controls of divertor heat and particle fluxes in EAST

Since the last IAEA-Fusion Energy Conference, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) research program has been, in support of ITER and CFETR, focused on development in terms of the long-pulse steady-state (fully noninductive) high beta H-mode scenario with active controls of the stationary and transient divertor heat and particle fluxes. The operational domain of the steady-state H-mode plasma scenario has been significantly extended with ITER-like tungsten mono-block divertor, plasma control and heating schemes. EAST has achieved several important milestones in the development of high β p H-mode scenario and its key physics and technologies. A 60 s-scale long-pulse steady-state high β p H-mode discharge with the major normalized plasma parameters similar to the designed performance of the CFETR 1 GW fusion power operation scenario has been successfully established and sustained by pure RF heating and current drive. Several feedback control schemes have been developed for a sustained detachment with good core confinement. This includes control of the total radiation power, target electron temperature, and particle flux measured using divertor Langmuir probes or a combination of the control of target electron temperature and AXUV radiation near the X point. The detachment feedback control schemes have been integrated with small-ELM regimes and high β p scenario via neon seeding, enabling a core and edge compatible integrated high-beta scenario applicable to long-pulse operations. ELM suppression has been achieved using various methods, including resonant magnetic perturbations and impurity seeding. Full suppression of ELMs by using n = 4 RMPs has been demonstrated for ITER for the first time in low input torque plasmas in EAST. EAST has been operated with helium to support the ITER research requirements for the first time. For a long-pulse, high bootstrap current fraction operation, a new lower tungsten divertor with active water-cooling has been installed, along with improvements in the heating and current drive capability.

Recent progress in the assessment of irradiation effects for in-vessel fusion materials: tungsten and copper alloys

The present contribution highlights results of the recent irradiation campaigns applied to screen mechanical properties of advanced tungsten and copper-based materials—main candidates for the application in the plasma-facing components (PFC) in the European DEMO, which has also been presented at 28th IAEA fusion energy conference. The main challenges in the formulated irradiation programme were linked to: (I) assessment of the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature of newly developed tungsten-based materials; (ii) investigation of an industrial pure tungsten grade under high temperature irradiation, reflecting operational conditions in the high flux divertor region; (iii) assessment of the high temperature strength of CuCrZr-based alloys and composites developed to enable the extension of the operational window for the heat sink materials. The development and choice of the advanced materials is driven naturally by the need to extend the operation temperature/fluence window thereby enlarging the design space for PFCs. The obtained results helped identifying the prospective tungsten and copper-based material grades as well as yielded a number of unexpected results pointing at severe degradation of the mechanical properties due to the irradiation. The results are discussed along with the highlights of the microstructural examination. An outlook for near future investigations involving in-depth post-irradiation examination and further irradiation campaigns is provided.

ELM Suppression by Boron Powder Injection and Comparison with Lithium Powder Injection on EAST

Type I edge-localized modes (ELMs) in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) were completely suppressed via boron powder injection into the X-point region of an upper-single null configuration over a wide range of operating conditions (2.8 < Paux < 7.5 MW, 3.8 × 1019 < ne < 6 × 1019 m−3, RF-only and RF + NBI heating scenarios, both grad-B drift directions, and even He ion majority plasmas) (Sun et al. in Nucl. Fusion, 2020). A window of edge B concentration for stable long pulse operation was identified: too low and ELMs return, too high and the discharge suffers radiative collapse. The injection of boron powder above the minimum for ELM suppression coincided with the occurrence of an edge harmonic oscillation detected in magnetics (both on the high-field side and low-field side), in AXUV diodes near the upper X-point, divertor D $${\upalpha }$$ emission, and in a range of other diagnostics (Diallo et al. in: Proceedings of 2020 IAEA fusion energy conference, 2021). No harmonic oscillation was observed when ELMs were present, and stored energy was slightly increased at constant density during ELM suppression. Core tungsten emission during ELM suppression either increased or decreased relative to ELMy H-mode, but the W emission was maintained at acceptable levels. The threshold B injection rate was measured for several conditions, and found to increase with heating power. Li powder injection into comparable discharges also resulted in a short phase of ELM suppression, but density and stored energy both decreased due to the strong pumping effect of lithium; no edge harmonic oscillation was observed with Li injection, indicating that the ELM suppression mechanisms differ. The new set of B-seeded, ELM-suppressed discharges exhibited certain characteristics of quiescent H-mode (Burrell et al. in Phys Plasmas 8:2153, 2001), but did not require high shear, counter beams, etc. The wide operating window and compatibility with RF-only discharges paves the way for future experiments targeting long pulse H-mode discharges with complete ELM suppression.

Progress on the small modular stellarator SCR-1: new diagnostics and heating scenarios

This work presents updates in the diagnostics systems, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) calculations and simulations of microwave heating scenarios of the small modular Stellarator of Costa Rica 1 (SCR-1). Similarly, the design of a flexible bolometer and magnetic diagnostics (a set of Mirnov coils, Rogowski coils and two diamagnetic loops) are introduced. Furthermore, new MHD equilibrium calculations for the plasma of the SCR-1 device were performed using the VMEC code including the poloidal cross-section of the magnetic flux surfaces at different toroidal positions, profiles of the rotational transform, magnetic well, magnetic shear and total magnetic field norm. Charged particle orbits in vacuum magnetic field were computed by the magnetic field solver BS-SOLCTRA (Vargas et al. In 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2018), 2018. IAEA). A visualization framework was implemented using Paraview (Solano-Piedra et al. In 23rd IAEA Technical Meeting on the Research Using Small Fusion Devices (23rd TM RUSFD), 2017) and compared with magnetic mapping results (Coto-Vílchez et al. In 16th Latin American Workshop on Plasma Physics (LAWPP), 2017, pp. 43–46). Additionally, simulations of microwave heating scenarios were performed by the IPF-FDMC full-wave code. These simulations calculate the conversion of the ordinary waves to extraordinary waves and allow us to identify the location where the conversion takes place. Finally, the microwave heating scenarios for the $330^{\circ }$ toroidal position are presented. The microwave heating scenarios showed that the O–X–B mode conversion is around 12–14 %. It was possible to identify the spatial zone where the conversion takes place (upper hybrid frequency).

Author Index for Nuclear Fusion Articles Based on Papers Presented at the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Gandhinagar, India, 22–27 October 2018)

Author Index for Nuclear Fusion Articles Based on Papers Presented at the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Gandhinagar, India, 22–27 October 2018)

27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference: summary of sessions EX/C, EX/S and PPCaaConference papers that have been published as journal papers since the conference took place are referenced as such. Papers for which the conference preprint is the latest record are available online at: https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Shared Documents/FEC 2018/FEC2018_ConfMat_Online.pdf.

Developments presented at the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in several areas of experimental magnetic confinement fusion research relating to confinement physics, plasma stability, plasma performance and control are reviewed. First results were reported from significant new stellarator and tokamak facilities and wide-ranging studies of issues such as disruption mitigation, control of edge localized modes (ELMs), the influence of hydrogenic isotope on heat and particle transport, optimization of ELMy H-modes and advanced H-modes and the application of advanced control techniques have been performed in support of the preparations for ITER operation.

Progress of fusion technology: summary of FIP, FNS, MPT, and SEE from the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference

Two hundred and twenty-five papers relevant to fusion technology and engineering were presented at the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference. The ITER project has reached 57.4% of the total construction work scope through to first plasma. Construction of ITER is indeed progressing at full speed, with some ITER components having already been manufactured, such as the toroidal field coil structures and the gyrotrons of the electron cyclotron heating and current drive system, as a result of decades of technological development. Construction of JT-60SA and WEST is also progressing on schedule to support ITER in various engineering and physics aspects. The EU and Japan are advancing with their pre-conceptual designs for DEMO, and the experience and lessons learned from ITER are already being applied to both designs. China reported on the status of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor engineering design. One of the technical issues evident from these DEMO designs is the interfacing of the plasma-facing, in-vessel components with plasmas. Advanced plasma-facing elements having liquid metals and an advanced in situ boron coating technology were applied to existing fusion reactors, the results of which were reported at this conference. It was also reported that commissioning of the injector for the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility engineering validation and engineering design activities (IFMIF/EVEDA) project has been completed and testing of the Radio Frequency Quadrupole accelerator has begun. Europe and Japan presented their plans to construct neutron irradiation test facilities: the DEMO-Oriented Neutron Source (DONES) and Advanced Fusion Neutron Source (A-FNS), respectively. A new strategy based on a probability-based design method was proposed to mitigate the difficulty of defining the allowable limit for irradiation-induced degradation with limited empirical evidence.

Summary of the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in the categories of EX/W, EX/D, and ICC

This is a summary paper of the 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference which was held from 22–27 October 2018 in Gandhinagar, India. The results in the categories of EX/W (wave–plasma interactions, current drive, heating, energetic particles), EX/D (plasma–material interactions, divertors, limiters, scrape-off layer (SOL)), and ICC (innovative confinement concepts) in magnetic confinement experiments are summarized. In total, 121 papers have been contributed to these categories. Interesting results on the coupling between energetic particles, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), wave–particle interaction, turbulence, SOL physics, and divertors are presented at this conference. For example, control of energetic particle driven MHD by electron cyclotron heating and resonance magnetic perturbation, mitigation of disruption by energetic particle driven MHD, control of decay length by SOL turbulence, and wave scattering by SOL density fluctuations were discussed in this conference. Deeper understanding of these couplings will be essential for the sustainment of high performance steady-state plasma in ITER.

Overview of the FTU results

Since the 2016 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, FTU operations have been mainly devoted to experiments on runaway electrons and investigations into a tin liquid limiter; other experiments have involved studies of elongated plasmas and dust. The tearing mode onset in the high density regime has been studied by means of the linear resistive code MARS, and the highly collisional regimes have been investigated. New diagnostics, such as a runaway electron imaging spectroscopy system for in-flight runaway studies and a triple Cherenkov probe for the measurement of escaping electrons, have been successfully installed and tested, and new capabilities of the collective Thomson scattering and the laser induced breakdown spectroscopy diagnostics have been explored.

Recent advances in EAST physics experiments in support of steady-state operation for ITER and CFETR

Since the last IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in 2016, the EAST physics experiments have been developed further in support of high-performance steady-state operation for ITER and CFETR. First demonstration of a >100 s time scale long-pulse steady-state scenario with a good plasma performance (H98(y2) ~ 1.1) and a good control of impurity and heat exhaust with the upper tungsten divertor has been achieved on EAST using the pure radio frequency (RF) power heating and current drive. The EAST operational domain has been significantly extended towards a more ITER and CFETR related high beta steady-state regime (βP ~ 2.5 and βN ~ 1.9 of using RF and NB and βP ~ 1.9 and βN ~ 1.5 of using pure RF). A large bootstrap current fraction up to 47% has been achieved with with q95 ~ 6.0–7.0. The interaction effect between the electron cyclotron resonant heating and two lower hybrid wave systems has been investigated systematically, and applied for the improvement of current drive efficiency and plasma confinement quality in the steady-state scenario development on EAST. Full edge-localized mode (ELM) suppression using the n = 2 resonant magnetic perturbations has been achieved in ITER-like standard type-I ELMy H-mode plasmas with a range of the edge safety factor of q95 ≈ 3.2–3.7 on EAST. Reduction of the peak heat flux on the divertor was demonstrated using the active radiation feedback control. An increase in the total heating power and improvement of the plasma confinement are expected using a 0D model prediction for a higher bootstrap fraction. Towards a long-pulse, high bootstrap current fraction operation, a new lower ITER-like tungsten divertor with active water-cooling will be installed, together with further increase and improvement of heating and current drive capability.

Author Index for Nuclear Fusion Articles Based on Papers Presented at the 26th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Kyoto, Japan, 17–22 October 2016)

Author Index for Nuclear Fusion Articles Based on Papers Presented at the 26th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (Kyoto, Japan, 17–22 October 2016)

Inertial confinement fusion for energy: overview of the ongoing experimental, theoretical and numerical studies

This paper provides an overview of the results presented at the 26th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in the field of inertial confinement fusion for energy, covering its various experimental, numerical/theoretical and technological facets, as well as the different paths towards ignition that are currently followed worldwide.

25th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference: summary of sessions EX/S, EX/W and ICC

This paper provides a summary overview, based on papers presented at the 25th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC), in the area of magnetic confinement experiments related to stability (EX/S), wave–plasma interactions, current drive, heating, energetic particles (EX/W) and innovative confinement concepts (ICCs). A selection of results that represent progress made since the last FEC in a few important thematic areas that are relevant for the successful and safe operation of future fusion devices like ITER, is highlighted.

Scientific and technological advancements in inertial fusion energy

Scientific advancements in inertial fusion energy (IFE) were reported on at the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, October 2012. Results presented transect the different ways to assemble the fuel, different scenarios for igniting the fuel, and progress in IFE technologies. The achievements of the National Ignition Campaign within the USA, using the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to indirectly drive laser fusion, have found beneficial the achievements in other IFE arenas such as directly driven laser fusion and target fabrication. Moreover, the successes at NIF have pay-off to alternative scenarios such as fast ignition, shock ignition, and heavy-ion fusion as well as to directly driven laser fusion. This synergy is summarized here, and future scientific studies are detailed.

Summary of the magnetic confinement theory and modelling activity presented at the 24th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference

This paper presents a summary of the papers presented at the 24th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (San Diego, CA, October 2012) on magnetic confinement theory and modelling.

Magnetic confinement experiments: plasma–material interactions, divertors, limiters, scrape-off layer (EX/D), stability (EX/S), wave–plasma interactions, current drive, heating, energetic particles (EX/W)

This paper summarizes the results presented at the 24th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in the categories of plasma–material interactions, divertors, limiters, scrape-off layer (EX/D), stability (EX/S), wave–plasma interactions, current drive, heating, energetic particles (EX/W) in magnetic confinement experiments. In total, 149 papers including post-deadline papers have contributed to these categories. Several closely related papers, which are actually categorized in confinement (EX/C), have also been included. The understanding of experimental results has progressed remarkably, in particular, in the topics of resonant magnetic perturbation and ITER-like wall, which are the highlight of this conference. At the same time, identification of the bridging mechanism between the actuator and the consequence still requires further dedicated efforts so as to provide more accurate and reliable extrapolations to ITER and DEMO.

Overview of the RFX-mod fusion science programme

This paper reports the highlights of the RFX-mod fusion science programme since the last 2010 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference. The RFX-mod fusion science programme focused on two main goals: exploring the fusion potential of the reversed field pinch (RFP) magnetic configuration and contributing to the solution of key science and technology problems in the roadmap to ITER. Active control of several plasma parameters has been a key tool in this endeavour. New upgrades on the system for active control of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability are underway and will be presented in this paper. Unique among the existing fusion devices, RFX-mod has been operated both as an RFP and as a tokamak. The latter operation has allowed the exploration of edge safety factor qedge < 2 with active control of MHD stability and studies concerning basic energy and flow transport mechanisms. Strong interaction has continued with the stellarator community in particular on the physics of helical states and on three-dimensional codes.