IMPLEMENTING AGREEMENT FOR CO-OPERATION TOKAMAK PROGRAMMES
ANNUAL REPORT
2013

 

INTRODUCTION

 

CHAIR’S REPORT

 

MEMBERSHIP

 

ACTIVITIES

                Status Reports / Achievements

 

PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR

 

FINANCING

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

 

APPENDIX I

                Minutes of the 4th Executive Committee Meeting

 


INTRODUCTION

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous agency established in 1974. The IEA carries out a comprehensive programme of energy co-operation among 28 advanced economies, each of which is obliged to hold oil stocks equivalent to 90 days of its net imports. The aims of the IEA are to:

·         Secure member countries’ access to reliable and ample supplies of all forms of energy; in particular, through maintaining effective emergency response capabilities in case of oil supply disruptions.

·         Promote sustainable energy policies that spur economic growth and environmental protection in a global context – particularly in terms of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

·         Improve transparency of international markets through collection and analysis of energy data.

·         Support global collaboration on energy technology to secure future energy supplies and mitigate their environmental impact, including through improved energy efficiency and development and deployment of low-carbon technologies.

·         Find solutions to global energy challenges through engagement and dialogue with non-member countries, industry, international organisations and other stakeholders.

To attain these goals, increased co-operation between industries, businesses and government energy technology research is indispensable. The public and private sectors must work together, share burdens and resources, while at the same time multiplying results and outcomes.

The multilateral technology initiatives (Implementing Agreements) supported by the IEA are a flexible and effective framework for IEA member and non-member countries, businesses, industries, international organisations and non-government organisations to research breakthrough technologies, to fill existing research gaps, to build pilot plants, to carry out deployment or demonstration programmes – in short to encourage technology-related activities that support energy security, economic growth and environmental protection.

More than 6,000 specialists carry out a vast body of research through these various initiatives. To date, more than 1,000 projects have been completed. There are currently 41 Implementing Agreements (IA) working in the areas of:

·         Cross-Cutting Activities (information exchange, modelling, technology transfer)

·         End-Use (buildings, electricity, industry, transport)

·         Fossil Fuels (greenhouse-gas mitigation, supply, transformation)

·         Fusion Power (international experiments)

·         Renewable Energies and Hydrogen (technologies and deployment)

The IAs are at the core of a network of senior experts consisting of the Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT), four working parties and three expert groups. A key role of the CERT is to provide leadership by guiding the IAs to shape work programmes that address current energy issues productively, by regularly reviewing their accomplishments, and suggesting reinforced efforts where needed. For further information on the IEA, the CERT and the IAs, please consult www.iea.org/techagr.

The scope of the Implementing Agreement for Co-operation on Tokamak Programmes (CTP IA) is to further the science and technology of large tokamaks by engaging in co-operative actions relating to the further development of the tokamak concept to make maximum use of the scientific facilities in the countries of the contracting parties.


CHAIR’S REPORT

            Short summary

The CTP IA, in conjunction with bi-lateral agreements, continues to provide an excellent method to carry out ITER research needs and advance fusion science. During 2013, the tokamaks programmes involved in this IA provided essential data and operating experience for ITER and for the advancement of the tokamak concept.

The participation of the ITER China Domestic Agency as a Contracting Party in the CTP IA became effective as of January 2013.

During its 4th meeting, the Executive Committee confirmed or agreed to the following:

–the Personnel Assignment reports for 2013;

–some of the Personnel Assignments for 2014, although more will be proposed during the year and approved by written procedure;

–plans for a workshop on theory and simulation of disruptions  to be held in the US in July 2014;

–the term of chair of the Executive Committee will continue to be two years (i.e. since the Implementing Agreement specifies that the chair will be elected annually, the Executive Committee will normally re-elect each chair to serve a second year);

–The term of the present chair (US) will end after the report to the IEA FPCC meeting in January 2014, and the new chair (ITER) will assume the chair;

–EU continues in roles of the secretariat and the CTP WEB management; and

–The next (17th) ITPA CC meeting, the Workshop on Joint Experiments and the 5th CTP ExCo meeting to be held consecutively at Cadarache, France on 8-10 December 2014.

 

            Executive Committee

 

                        Minutes of the 4th ExCo Meeting are attached as Appendix I.

 


MEMBERSHIP

            Contracting Parties

 

European Union

 

South Korea

Japan

 

India

United States of America

ITER

 

China (beginning Jan 2013)

 

 


ACTIVITIES

            Status Reports / Achievements

                       

Reports from the ITPA Coordination Committee Meeting (compiled by Steve Lisgo)

China Report, Baonian WAN

The EAST tokamak (ASIPP) has achieved a 30 s H-mode pulse and 400 s during long pulse operation (250 kA).  A tungsten mono-block upper divertor is being installed and significant heating upgrades will occur in 2014 (additional NBI and ECH/ECCD at 140 GHz), with the total available power reaching 30 MW once all systems are fully commissioned.

The HL-2A tokamak (SWIPP) has been investigating energetic particle physics, transport and confinement, and L-H transition dynamics. And upgrade for HL-2A, termed HL-2M, is well into the design phase, and will give stronger shaping, enhanced auxiliary heating (up to ~20 MW), and longer pulse length.

The Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor, or CFETR, is an ITER-scale device currently in the conceptual design phase.  It will include some features that go beyond ITER, such as high duty-cycle, large scale tritium breeding, and additional PF coils for advanced divertor configurations.  Conventional materials will be employed, but CFETR should also serve as a facility for testing new materials under fusion reactor conditions.  Superconducting and water cooled copper coil options being considered.

EU Report, Duarte BORBA

Shallow W melt, H-mode optimization, and initial runaway electron studies were successfully accomplished on JET.  A second round of DT experiments has been proposed, which would start in ~2016.

ASDEX Upgrade enhancements include bulk W tiles in the outer divertor and new power supplies that allow rotating resonant magnetic perturbations.  The ITER baseline shots are stable and have large ELMs which contain up to ~25% of the stored energy.

TCV reports discovery of an Ohmic quiescent high-confinement regime termed “IN-mode”, has demonstrated super-X and triple-X divertor operation, and transformer recharging via bootstrap current overdrive.  There will be no operation in 2014 due to installation of NBI.

In MAST, ELMs were mitigated with rotating RMPs, and MARS-Q calculations match the observed change in plasma rotation after the application of RMPs.  MAST Upgrade construction is underway, with first plasma in late 2015.

The WEST project was officially launched at IRFM, and the first workshop with international partners planned for the summer of 2014.  First plasma is expected in 2016.

TEXTOR ceased operation in December after a successful 30 year campaign, with 2013 focused on high priority EFDA and ITPA tasks, including: IC wall conditioning, high-Z migration, dust, first mirrors, W melting, and disruption physics.  The experimental focus at FZJ will now shift to facilities that study material properties a neutron environment.

H-modes were achieved on COMPASS in 2013, and the experimental plan in 2014 incorporates disruption physics, power radial decay lengths, the L-H threshold dependence on isotope, and deployment of a significant number of new diagnostics.

FTU installed a new cooled liquid lithium limiter and successfully completed restart in October 2013.  The programme for 2014 includes the study of the new limiter, runaway electrons, ECRH/ECCD, the scrape-off layer, transport, instabilities, and lower hybrid waves.

The effect of changing isotopes (H to D) on zonal flows appears to be different in the JT-II stellarator than in tokamaks, which may help the understanding of isotope effects in fusion plasmas.  A reduction in Alfvιn eigenmode (AE) amplitude with the application of ECH power was also observed, suggesting an avenue for AE control.  Work on these topics will continue in 2014.

India Report, Abhijit SEN

The superconducting coils on SST-1 have been commissioned and first plasma was achieved in June 2013 (~10 kA).  Operation at half- and full-field (1.5 T) has been demonstrated, with ECH break-down assist at the second and first harmonics, respectively.  The upcoming activity will focus on ~100 kA (circular) plasmas, pulse lengths of greater than 1 s with RF, and subsystem upgrades.

The Aditya (sun god) tokamak at IPR will continue to do basic experiments and serve as a test bed for diagnostics and heating and current drive schemes. A new vacuum vessel is being commissioned which will permit operation in a diverted configuration.

Japan Report, Yutaka, KAMADA

A Joint Core Team has been formed under JAEA and NIFS in order to review the motivations for DEMO and to develop a detailed roadmap.

Deuterium experiments on LHD are scheduled to start in 2016, and will be preceded by several substantial upgrades: all heating systems (29 MW to 44 MW), neutron diagnostics, a closed helical divertor, and the vacuum pumping system (including the installation of a tritium recovery facility).

JAEA continues to support a wide range of ITER and Broader Approach activities.  A large number of major ITER components have progressed to detailed design, qualification, and fabrication.  In Rokkasho, the injector of the IFMIF/EVEDA accelerator was delivered in May 2013 and the fusion research supercomputer commissioned in 2012 continues to operate well.  Procurements for JT-60SA are on schedule, with 86% of PAs signed.  The first dual-frequency gyrotron (110 & 138 GHz) has been successfully operated at 1 MW for 10s at both frequencies, with a goal of 100 s, and the negative ion beam has been run for 100 s after installing temperature control of the cesium grid.  JT-60U data analysis continues to bear fruit, covering MHD, turbulence, disruptions, and integrated models.

South Korea Report, Jong-Gu KWAK

KSTAR has exceeded the no-wall beta limit, doubling N from 2011, and achieved NBI heated H-mode operation for ~20 s at 0.5 MA.  Measurements of the intrinsic error field show it to be unusually low.  2D ECE imaging (always impressive) now covers the high-field side midplane, in addition to the low-field side.  The 2014 program will focus on higher beta, long pulse at higher plasma current, and ELM suppression with RMPs.  Hardware upgrades include NBI to 5.5 MW (from 3 MW) and Thomson in 2014, and water cooled PFCs in 2015.

Other fusion research related activity in South Korea includes the VEST spherical tokamak, and theory and simulation at KAIST with XGC0 and XGC1, in collaboration with The US SciDAC Center for Edge Physics Simulation (EPSI).

US Report, Steve ECKSTRAND

Acknowledging a challenging budget environment, the US programme will emphasize international partnerships, high performance computing, university collaborations, and optimal exploitation of the DIII-D and NSTX national laboratories over the 2014-2024 timeframe (a new long-term roadmap that includes additional facilities is in preparation).  Research priorities are plasma control and dynamics, validated predictive capability, fusion materials science, and ITER research.

The 5-year technical goals at DIII-D are strongly aligned to ITER needs: provide the physics basis to resolve the remaining ITER design issues, enhance confidence in ITER achieving Q=10, prepare the physics basis for defining the path for fusion energy beyond ITER, and to deliver validated predictive capability of performance-defining physics.  Near-term upgrades include ECRH (5.7 MW in 2014, 7 MW in 2016, and 8.5 MW in 2017) and high frequency (90 Hz) pellet injection for ELM control.

NSTX is currently being upgraded, with a return to operation in 2015.  Two principal new capabilities are being incorporated: a larger centre-stack for a factor ~5 increase in pulse length and a second neutral beam at larger tangency radius, for improved current drive efficiency.  Together, the upgrades should allow operation at significantly reduced collisionality and fully non-inductive discharges. The 5-10 year goal is to combine high β and τE, a high performance divertor solution (detachment and/or snowflake), metal walls, and non-inductive operation.

Collaborative Activities

There were a wide range of bilateral and multi-lateral collaborations in 2013. The following is a list of completed personnel exchanges.

EU – KO: 6 Exchanges, 68 person days

EU – US: 1 Exchanges, 21 person days

IO – EU: 10 Exchanges, 32 person days

JA – EU: 7 Exchanges, 2 person years, 38 person days

JA – KO: 5 Exchanges, 45 person days

JA – US: 3 Exchanges, 18 person days

KO – EU: 4 Exchanges, 68 person days

KO – JA: 1 Exchange, 5 person days

KO – US: 5 Exchanges, 284 person days

US – EU: 12 Exchanges, 215 person days

US – KO: 6 Exchanges, 1 person year, 34 person days

 

Many other exchanges took place under bilateral agreements.

 

 


PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR

China is planning major upgrades to several facilities. A new tokamak, HL-2M is being planned to focus on research relevant to ITER. A major upgrade of EAST auxiliary heating systems and diagnostics will permit operation at higher performance and longer pulse length.

The EU also plans several upgrades in 2014. ASDEX Upgrade will have massive tungsten tiles in outer divertor, more flexible pumping, and 4 AC power supplies for 16 “B-coils” to enable rotating magnetic perturbations. Tore Supra is being upgraded to have an all tungsten environment with long pulse capability. TCV will be shut down for installation of a 1MW neutral beam heating system and new diagnostics. MAST will be undergoing a major upgrade in 2014 and is expected to resume operation in late 2015. JET will continue experiments with the ITER-like wall in 2014.

In India, SST-1 obtained its first plasma on June 20, 2013 using the superconducting magnet system. The SST-1 team plans  to raise the current to 100kA, extend the pulse duration to 100ms, and bring on LHCD and other auxiliary systems during 2014.

In Japan, work continues on JT-60SA. By November  2013, 22 Procurement Arrangements (PAs)  had been concluded (JA: 13PAs, EU: 9PAs) equalling 86% of the total cost of Broader Approach Satellite Tokamak Program. In addition, version 3.1 of the JT-60SA research plan was completed in 2013.

In Korea, the pulse length of KSTAR (H-mode flat-top) was extended to 20 seconds at a plasma current of 500 kA. In 2014, the plans are to upgrade NB heating up to 5 MW using 3 ion sources and extend the H-mode pulse length to about 30seconds at the MA plasma current level.

In the U.S. NSTX is undergoing major upgrades to NSTX-U, which will double the toroidal field, plasma current and pulse length.. NSTX-U is expected resume operation in early 2015.  DIII-D plans an extensive program of research ITER physics issues including disruption mitigation, pellet pacing of ELMS, RMP physics, and effects of the Test Blanket Module.

An International Workshop on theory and simulation of disruptions will be hosted by Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, U.S.A., in 2014. The 5th ExCo Meeting will be held at ITER Headquarters in December 2014.


COMMUNICATION  

The chair has invited Russia to join the Implementing Agreement.


FINANCING

Unless otherwise agreed by the Contracting Parties in writing, each Contracting Party shall bear its own costs in carrying out the activities under this Agreement and any Annexes, including the costs of formulating or transmitting reports and of reimbursing its employees for travel and other per diem expenses.


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

CHINA

D. Luo

 

ITER China

K. He

 

ITER China

 

EUROPEAN UNION

F. Romanelli

 

EFDA/JET

Lars-Gφran Eriksson

 

EFDA/JET

INDIA

P. Kaw

 

Institute for Plasma Research

R. Jha

 

Institute for Plasma Research

ITER

O. Motojima

 

ITER Organization

R. Haange

 

ITER Organization

JAPAN

M. Mori

 

JAEA

Y. Kamada

 

JAEA

KOREA

J-G. Kawk

 

NFRI

Y-K. Oh

 

NFRI

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

S. Eckstrand (Chair)

 

DoE, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences

R. Hawryluk

 

PPPL

 

 

 


CONTACT INFORMATION

For more information, contact steve.eckstrand@science.doe.gov

 


APPENDIX I

Minutes of the 4th Executive Committee Meeting of the

IEA Implementing Agreement for

CO-OPERATION ON TOKAMAK PROGRAMMES (CTP)

 

At Cadarache, France, Wednesday 11th December 2013

 

Attendance: Abhijit Sen (IN), Charles Greenfield (US), Rajesh Maingi (US), Alejandro Zurita (EU), Duarte Borba (EU) Secretary, Yutaka Kamada (JP), Kouji Shinohara (JP), Steve Eckstrand (US) Chair, Mickey Wade (US), Jong-Gu Kwak  (KO), Yeong-Kook Oh (KO), David Campbell (ITER-IO), Steve Lisgo (ITER-IO)

 

Summary

The CTP-IA Executive Committee:

-  adopted the Personnel Assignments reports for Jan. 2013– Dec. 2013 and the Proposals for Assignments and Remote Participation for Jan. 2014 – Dec. 2014,

- approved the proposal tabled by the US to organise a Workshop focussed on well diagnosed experiments that can provide information to validate or disprove models for disruptions,

- approved the proposal that the Chair will be taken by ITER for the next two years.

 

Welcome and Approval of the agenda and minutes of the last meeting

The Chair welcomed all participants in the meeting. The proposed agenda was briefly discussed and approved. The minutes of the previous meeting (3rd Executive Committee Meeting) were approved, taking into account the comments made by David Campbell (ITER-IO) by e-mail.

 

Reports on the Completed Workshops and Personnel Assignments for

Jan. 2013 – Dec. 2013

There were no Workshops organised in addition to the CTP-ITPA Planning Meeting for Joint Experiments (JEX) (W75), which took place on 9th to 11th December 2013 at the ITER-IO Head Quarters in Cadarache. The Personnel Assignments reports were presented by the different parties and adopted. Duarte Borba (EU) presented the EU report on Outgoing Assignments and made the remark that there were a small number of exchanges, but following the ongoing restructuring of the EU fusion accompanying programme, there is the intention to make a more extensive use of this agreement in the future. Yutaka Kamada (JP) presented the report on JT-60 Outgoing Assignments emphasising the participation to JET. He thanked JET for welcoming Dr. Nakano and Dr. Suzuki. The report on US Outgoing Assignments was presented by Steve Eckstrand (US) and the Report on KSTAR Outgoing Assignments was presented by Jong-Gu Kwak (KO). Yutaka Kamada (JP) raised the question regarding the collaborations between Tokyo University and Korean Universities, since this collaboration is not under JAEA, therefore, it should not be conducted under the CTP-IA. Jong-Gu Kwak (KO) took note of this remark and agreed to withdraw the collaborations between Korea and Japanese universities from the list of collaborations carried out under the CTP agreement. Steve Eckstrand (US) made the remark that a similar question was raised regarding China, since it was the Chinese ITER domestic Agency that has joined the agreement. The answer given was that it is up to the government to decide the organisations that are part of the agreement; but this is also under discussion. There was also the remark that the Japanese Universities can use the Spherical Tokamak IEA Agreement for their collaborations. The Report on ITER Outgoing Assignments was presented by David Campbell (ITER-IO). He stressed that the CTP-IA agreement was used for collaborations with JET, i.e. for assignments related to the JET experiment. But he added that in the coming year, it is expected that ITER will have collaborations with other laboratories, in particular for the participation in experiments as discussed in the ITPA co-ordination meeting. He added that the Tungsten Lamella Melting experiments carried out at JET are a perfect example for the use of this agreement. There were no reports either from China or India.

 

Proposals for Personnel Assignments and Remote Participation for Jan. 2014 – Dec. 2014

Regarding the EU Proposals for next year Duarte Borba (EU) added that the use of the CTP-IA will be discussed in the frame of the new EUROfusion consortium and new proposals for assignments will be submitted for consideration by the Executive Committee in the beginning of 2014.  Regarding the JT-60 Proposals, Mickey Wade (US) asked why the report on the assignments of Dr. Nakano and Dr. Suzuki were not presented at the meeting. Yutaka Kamada (JP) replied that these assignments will be completed in 2014 and that a comprehensive report regarding these assignments will be presented at the next meeting.  Charles Greenfield (US) pointed out that there is a typo in the contact person of ASDEX Upgrade in the assignments to the EU. Regarding the US proposals for assignment, Steve Eckstrand (US) stressed that there is a large collaboration with the EU, mostly regarding the continuation of previous exchanges. Regarding the collaboration with the EAST Tokamak in China, since EAST is part of the Chinese Academy of Science, it is not sure that this can be formalised under the CTP-IA and it might be conducted under the DOE - Chinese Academy of Science bilateral agreement. Nevertheless, it is useful to note these exchanges at this meeting. The proposed list have been reviewed and approved by the Chinese Colleagues. Regarding the KSTAR proposals, Jong-Gu Kwak (KO) said that the list of proposed exchanges with Japan have not yet been finalised. Regarding the proposed exchanged related to ITER, David Campbell (ITER-IO) added that proposals are expected for collaborations and assignments with JET, ASDEX-Upgrade, KSTAR, EAST and DIII-D. Regarding collaborations with China, Steve Eckstrand (US) added that there are no proposals from China, since it is not clear this can be covered under this agreement. Mickey Wade (US) stressed again that since EAST is the main machine in China at present, the exchanges with EAST should be covered under the CTP-IA. Steve Eckstrand (US) agreed to follow up on this matter.

Decision: the CTP-IA ExCo adopted the Personnel Assignments reports for Jan. 2013– Dec. 2013 and the Proposals for Assignments and Remote Participation for Jan. 2014 – Dec. 2014.

Action on Steve Eckstrand (US) to follow up on the agreement with China and clarify what is covered under the CTP-IA.

No proposals were tabled by China or India. Jong-Gu Kwak (KO) asked if there will be proposals from India. Abhijit Sen (IN) replied that proposals will be submitted next year.

 

Proposals for Workshops for Jan. 2014 – Dec. 2014

Steve Eckstrand (US) presented one proposal from the US. It is proposed that the Workshop will focus on well diagnosed experiments that can provide information to validate or disprove models for disruptions, following on a similar Workshop organised in the US earlier in the year. The idea is that this Workshop is opened to all CTP-IA members. Yutaka Kamada (JP) asked about what is the relation with the ITPA activities? Steve Eckstrand (US) replied that due to its’ narrow focus, the proposed workshop is better than combining it with the ITPA activities. The purpose is to find a balance between theory and experiments. The ITPA meetings will be organised together with the 2014 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in St Petersburg, Russia. Yutaka Kamada (JP) asked a question regarding the intended participation to the Workshop, will it be a meeting involving research leaders or working scientists. Steve Eckstrand (US) replied that it meant to be a working level meeting. David Campbell (ITER-IO) added that he participated in the first workshop and that it was very valuable. This is a very immature field in terms of simulations. Therefore, the organisation of a focussed meeting is very useful.  He added that organising a similar 3 day meeting is very good. It is important to encourage the people with the right skills to develop the field of Disruptions. This has been done in an ad hoc manner, so a more focused activity is very important. Charles Greenfield (US) added that there were quite a few international participants in the previous meeting.  Therefore, trying to make the participation even wider is a good idea, aiming at a good balance between experiments and theory. The proposal to organise the workshop was then endorsed by the committee.

Decision: the CTP-IA ExCo approved the proposal introduced by the US to organise a Workshop focussed on well diagnosed experiments that can provide information to validate or disprove models for disruptions.

 

Discussion on annual report for 2013

Steve Eckstrand (US) said that he will prepare a presentation reporting on the activities from the parties to be presented at the meeting of the IEA FPCC, at the end of January 2014. The presentation that he put together for 2012 was sent for comments last year. It is proposed that each party sends 5-6 viewgraphs for this report. The slides should not necessarily focus on scientific results, but more on the construction and status of facilities. He also stressed that the IEA FPCC is mainly a managerial meeting. He also requested that the members of the ExCo, send a summary of the exchanges with updates; and updates on the membership of the CTP-IA ExCo by January 7th 2013. Yutaka Kamada (JP) asked about the period covered by the report. Steve Eckstrand (US) confirmed that the report will cover the period between Jan-13 to Dec-13.

 

Chairman's term of office

Steve Eckstrand (US) introduced the topic regarding the election of the new chair. The policy is to rotate the chair among the parties. The proposal would be that ITER will take the Chair for the following two years.  David Campbell (ITER-IO) replied that ITER will accept this proposal and he will confirm who will be nominated from ITER to be the chair person.

Decision: the CTP-IA ExCo approved the proposal that the Chair will be taken by ITER for the next two years.

 

Date of the Next meeting

The 5th Executive Committee Meeting is scheduled for 10th December 2014, from 14:00 to 16:00, after the next ITPA Coordinating Committee meeting.

 


Annex I Summary on IA-CTP Membership Status

India joined the IA-CTP in April 2011, the ITER-IO in October 2012 and China ITER domestic agency joined in 16 January 2013.