Implementing Agreement: Technology Collaboration
Programme on Co-operation on Tokamak Programmes
Year: 2016
Chair: Richard Pitts (richard.pitts@iter.org)
ExCo Secretary: Duarte Borba (duarte.borba@euro-fusion.org)
Highlights
of experiments or analysis during the year
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FUSION SCIENCE |
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Physics |
|
Briefly mention here the gaps or barriers the IA is seeking to address
relating to physics. If none, enter ‘N/A’. The main physics
gaps for achieving fusion energy relate to the sustainment of high gain
burning plasmas, including plasma control, long duration and heat
exhaust. In striving to integrate
foundational burning plasma science with the science and technology of long
pulse and sustained operation, ITER is the keystone in addressing these
issues. |
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Include here highlights (the most important or significant results)
from among all the experiments and/or analysis for this area carried out
during the year. NSTX-U (United
States) has undergone a major upgrade and will have substantially increased
reactor relevance. This multi-year upgrade project was completed at the end
of 2015 and will provide a national user facility with significantly enhanced
capabilities. In 2016, initial operations progressed rapidly, but then
challenges emerged and problems were found in some of the upgraded
components. MAST (UK) is
undergoing a major upgrade for the installation of the innovative
configuration (Super-X divertor) and operations are expected in 2017. The DIII-D
(United States) 3D-Coil power supplies and all subsystems provided by ASIPP
(China) were installed in 2016. The 3D System includes Power Supplies,
stepdown transformer, 13.8 kV switchgear and cabling, patch panel and
cabling. All connections, interfaces and data acquisition systems have been
tested. A modest upper divertor change was completed in 2016 and will allow
for tests of a wide range of divertor closures without affecting advanced
tokamak operation. Resonant Magnetic
Perturbation (RMP) Edge Localized Mode (ELM) suppression was extended to
lower shaping, matching the intermediate triangularity of ASDEX Upgrade plasmas.
Alcator C-Mod
(United States) attained a new tokamak World Record for volume average
pressure (2.05 atm). After 24 years of producing influential physics results,
the facility ceased operations in 2016. The facility is now being shut down,
with no further operations planned. Remote third
shift operation and the remote execution of experiments on EAST (China) were
developed and carried out successfully by General Atomics staff (United
States). Staff communication and EAST data transfer to the US were very good,
without significant impact to the General Atomics staff or added cost from
EAST (China) schedule changes. The European
fusion programme, focusing on the support of ITER construction and
optimization of ITER operation and risk mitigation for ITER has been enhanced
by performing joint collaborative supporting research in the existing
European devices. These include JET, ASDEX-Upgrade (Germany), TCV
(Switzerland) which restarted operation in 2016 after a long upgrade,
MAST-Upgrade (United Kingdom) which will begin operation in 2017, and
participation in the JT-60 Super Advanced (JT60-SA) tokamak (Japan),
currently under construction. The European tokamak programme is now
integrated to address these objectives and the JET and Medium Size Tokamak
(MST) Task Force Leaders draft annually a common experimental programme to
implement on each device. Development of
ITER Baseline operation continued on JET by extending this regime to 30 MW of
auxiliary power, plasma current to 3 MA and magnetic field to 2.7 Tesla.
Similar performance in baseline and hybrid scenarios was obtained, but via
different routes; in the baseline scenario using high current, high
confinement and broad profiles and in the hybrid scenario through moderate
current, high confinement and peaked profiles. Confinement investigations in
JET hydrogen ELMy H-mode plasmas across the full range of H/(H+D) have found
a mass scaling stronger than predicted by the IPB98 scaling. Helium campaigns
on ASDEX Upgrade, in preparation for ITER, have performed Ion Cyclotron Wall
Cleaning discharges and obtained Type I ELMs with high pedestal pressures. RMP
ELM control was successfully transferred from D to He; tungsten materials
were not modified or damaged and no net erosion at the divertor or
nanostructure growth/erosion was observed. The application of RMPs before a
disruption can suppress runaway electron generation. Varying the relative
phase between the upper and lower ELM control coils changes the alignment of
the perturbation with the field line and the runaway electron current is
reduced when the perturbation is well aligned at the q=4 surface. TCV (Switzerland)
Snowflake divertor experiments confirmed the radiation trapping in nitrogen
seeded discharges predicted by edge fluid modelling which suggested that the
nitrogen radiation would be trapped between the primary and secondary
X-points. A hot wall has
operated since 2014 on the QUEST device (Japan) and local Electron Cyclotron
Current Drive (ECCD) start-up was achieved. A 1 hour 55 minute pulse was
obtained in a limiter configuration with 40 kW of auxiliary power. The construction
of JT-60SA (Japan) is proceeding steadily and is on schedule for first plasma
in early 2019. Welding of 340º of the vacuum vessel (VV) and installation of
the vessel Thermal Shield was completed in 2016, with installation of the
toroidal field coils underway (three coils now delivered to the Naka site).
Manufacturing of the poloidal field coils was successfully completed with
very high accuracy. The JT-60SA Research Plan Ver. 3.3 was documented in
March 2016 with 378 co-authors. The installation of a full metal wall in
JT60-SA from 2028, in direct support of ITER operation, is under
investigation. The SST-1 Tokamak
(India) is now operational with the integration of various heating systems
and first wall components. Initial experiments on SST-1, are in progress. Electron
Cyclotron Heating pre-ionization assisted SST-1 ohmic plasmas with current
above 110 kA with magnetic field of 1.5 Tesla and electron temperature
between 200 and 250 eV have now been achieved. An upgrade to the ADITYA
tokamak (India) has been completed in March 2016, transforming the device
from a limiter to a divertor tokamak. The TF coil assembly has been tested at
1.4 Tesla, the ohmic coil assembly at 12.5 kA, and the vertical coil assembly
at 3 kA. First plasma was achieved in December 2016. Planned Experiments in
ADITYA Upgrade include confinement scaling experiments in circular and shaped
plasmas, plasma shaping experiments and heat load measurements on limiter and
divertor plates. In the last two
years, EAST (China) has upgraded its capabilities, with the main aim being
long pulse (steady state), high performance operation on an ITER-relevant,
fully water-cooled tungsten divertor. 60 second long pulse H-mode discharges
were obtained, with pure Radio Frequency (ICRH) heating, good confinement and
with good control of impurity levels assisted by RMPs and Electron Cyclotron
Resonant Heating. The divertor heat flux was mostly controlled below 3 MWm-2.
ELM suppression in a 20 second pulse was realised with small effect on plasma
performance using RMPs with optimised spectrum. A clear pump-out effect on tungsten
, which is helpful for sustaining the long pulse high performance, compatible
with long-pulse ICRH heated H-mode plasmas was observed. ELM pacing with
Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) modulation was studied in EAST and an
LHCD-induced flattening of the density profile near the separatrix and
pedestal density pump-out has been observed. Vacuum-field modeling of the LHCD-induced
3D magnetic topology change indicates that the flat-density-profile region
and its radial width expansion are largely consistent with those of the
LHCD-induced edge stochastic magnetic field layer, which may explain the
observed density profile change, similar to the effect of RMPs. ELM mitigation by
applying n=1 RMPs was first obtained in recent HL-2A (China) experiments. The
ELM frequency increases by a factor 2, correlated with density pump-out. ELM
mitigation by Laser Blow Off (LOB)-seeded impurities has also been performed
recently. Pedestal turbulence was enhanced during mitigation and the impurities
mainly deposited at the pedestal top. Runaway current caused by argon
injection with Massive Gas Injection (MGI) was successfully suppressed by supersonic
molecular beam injection (SMBI). A toroidal alfvén eignmode (TAE) was
observed during the disruption, which plays a favorable role in scattering
runaway electrons, limiting the strength of the runaway beam. The observation
of two different critical gradients for trigging electromagnetic turbulence
is believed to play a key role in cyclic H-I transitions. In the positive
gradient the mode is driven by impurity density gradient and in the negative
gradient driven both by impurity and electron density gradients. Advances towards
steady state operation in KSTAR (South Korea) led to long-pulse H-mode
discharges up to 70 seconds, with a plasma current of 0.45 MA and reliable
operation of the Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) at 5 MW and of Electron
Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive systems (105/140 GHz) at 1 MW. High
current H-mode discharges have been extended to up to 1 MA for 20 seconds,
with the goal of achieving 2 MA (the KSTAR design value) in the future. A
stationary discharge with an Internal Transport Barrier has been extended up
to 7 seconds. Long pulse ELM crash suppression using low-n error fields has
also been achieved. Strike point splitting is much clearer during the ELM
suppression. Intentionally misaligned Resonant Magnetic Perturbations
configurations would spread the divertor heat fluxes in a wider area. ITER
construction has advanced significantly and the facility is now taking shape
at St-Paul-lez-Durance, where construction of the major buildings is
advancing rapidly. Supported by impressive achievements in fusion technology
R&D, manufacturing of major ITER components, such as superconducting
magnet systems, vacuum vessel and cryostat, is in full swing. Substantial
progress has also been achieved in prototyping and R&D activities in
areas such as plasma-facing components (PFC), in-vessel coils, heating and
current drive systems, remote handling and power supplies in preparation for
manufacturing. A wide-ranging physics R&D programme, covered in many
cases by the TCP-CTP, is addressing key issues impacting the finalization of
the ITER design and preparations for operation. A new baseline for Project
construction and operation has been developed throughout 2016, featuring a
first plasma date in late 2025 and revised operating schedule through to
fusion power operation beginning in 2036. A revised Research Plan, consistent
with the new schedule is now being prepared, with the support of the fusion
physics research community and incorporating new advances in physics
understanding achieved in part thanks to TCP-CTP joint activities. |
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Materials |
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Briefly mention here the gaps or barriers the IA is seeking to address
materials. If none, enter ‘N/A’. The main gaps for achieving fusion energy include the development of
materials and components resistant to high heat fluxes and neutron fluence. |
|
Include here highlights (the most important or significant results)
from among all the experiments and/or analysis for this area carried out
during the year. |
|
Technologies |
|
Briefly mention here the gaps or barriers the IA is seeking to address
materials. If none, enter ‘N/A’. The main gaps for developing fusion energy include the required
technologies for achieving Tritium self-sufficiency with efficient breeding
and extraction techniques. |
|
Include here highlights (the most important or significant results)
from among all the experiments and/or analysis for this area carried out
during the year. In order to
ensure minimal delay in developing DEMO, a conceptual design System
Engineering Approach have been adopted in Europe in order to address
universal technical challenges with the gaps beyond ITER, which include
safety, tritium-breeding, power exhaust, remote handling, component lifetime
and plant availability. In China, the
development of a roadmap for fusion energy foresees the construction of the
China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), a superconducting-tokamak
aiming at the achievement of steady state burning plasma operation, with
efficient breeding blanket and advanced tritium technology to achieve tritium
self-sustainment. Fully non-inductive CFETR scenarios have been developed
with a self-consistent core-pedestal-equilibrium model. The new larger CFETR
reduces heating and current drive requirements, lower divertor heat flux and
neutron wall loading, higher bootstrap current fraction and H98y2 at similar
βN. The higher βN~3.2 Phase II configuration requires a close
conducting wall for n = 1,2 ideal stability but for Phase this not required. The Indian fusion
programme roadmap foresees the possibility of constructing a Fusion
Experiment SST-2 aiming at a fusion power of 100 MW, together with the
development of Liquid Lithium Cooled Blanket concept with Pb-Li breeder,
breeder coolant and multiplier, helium first wall coolant, EUROFER like
structure material and aluminum oxide insulator. In Korea, the
major facilities for K-DEMO development include the Plasma Material
Interaction facility at Chonbuk University, a 2.4 MW High-Temperature plasma
torch and a neutron irradiation material test Facility. Blanket, first wall,
divertor and material tests were performed at KAERI (Korea), together with
the collaborative development for the ITER Test Blanket Module as a breeding
blanket for a Fusion Reactor. |
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Modelling/analytics |
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Briefly mention here the gaps or barriers the IA is seeking to address
modelling or analytics. If none, enter ‘N/A’. The main gaps for achieving fusion energy include understanding and
developing modeling capabilities of the fundamentals of plasma transport,
macro-stability, wave-particle physics and plasma-wall interaction. |
|
Include here highlights (the most important or significant results)
from among all the experiments and/or analysis for this area carried out
during the year. A great deal of
modelling is carried out for ITER amongst the CTP partners, far too numerous
to mention here. Only a few examples
have been selected. |
Outcomes
during the year
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Workshops |
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List here the workshops organised during the year under the auspices
of the IA. - 3rd IEA Theory and Simulation of Disruptions Workshop, Princeton
Plasma Physics Laboratory Princeton, New Jersey July 20-22, 2016, 2015
http://tsdw.pppl.gov/ - KSTAR Conference 2016 February 24th to 26th, 2016,
Daejeon Convention Center, Daejeon, Korea |
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Annex/task meetings |
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List here the annex or task meetings held during the year organised by
the IA. This TCP has no annexes or associated Tasks. |
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Publications / Scientific journal articles |
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List here the publications drafted and/or finalized and made public
during the year resulting from the collaboration in the IA. - Multi-device studies of pedestal physics and confinement in the
I-mode regime, A.E. Hubbard, Nuclear Fusion - Maximization of ICRF power by SOL density tailoring with local gas
injection, P. Jacquet, Nuclear Fusion - Multi-machine scaling of the main SOL parallel heat flux width in
tokamak limiter plasmas, J. Horacek, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion - Physics conclusions in support of ITER W divertor monoblock shaping
, R. A. Pitts, Nuclear Materials and Energy - Multi-device studies of pedestal physics and confinement in the
I-mode regime, A.E. Hubbard, Nuclear Fusion - Benchmarking the GENE and GYRO codes through the relative roles of
electromagnetic and E × B stabilization in JET
high-performance discharges, R. Bravenec, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion - Validating predictive models for fast ion profile relaxation in
burning plasmas, NN Gorelenkov, Nuclear Fusion - High magnetic field test of bismuth Hall sensors for ITER steady
state magnetic diagnostic, I. Ďuran, Review of Scientific Instruments - Conceptual design of the ITER fast-ion loss detector, M.
Garcia-Munoz, Review of Scientific Instruments Stokes-Doppler coherence imaging for ITER boundary tomography, J.
Howard, Review of Scientific Instruments - First results on modeling of ITER infrared images, M Kočan,
Physica Scripta - Impact of reflections on the divertor and first wall temperature
measurements from ITER Infrared Imaging System, M-H Aumeunier, Nuclear
Materials and Energy - Final design of the ITER outer vessel steady-state magnetic sensors,
M. Kocan, Fusion Engineering and Design - Signal processing for the extreme environment Hall sensors. S. Entler Fusion
Engineering and Design - Development of Bismuth Hall sensors for ITER steady state magnetic
diagnostics, I. Duran, Fusion Engineering and Design - Bench testing of a heterodyne CO2 laser dispersion interferometer
for high temporal resolution plasma density measurements, T. Akiyama, Review
of Scientific Instruments - Design of a dispersion interferometer combined with a polarimeter to
increase the electron density measurement reliability on ITER, T. Akiyama,
Review of Scientific Instruments - Experimental simulation of the behaviour of diagnostic first mirrors
fabricated of different metals for ITER conditions, V.S. Voitsenya, Open
Physics Journal - Image quality method as a possible way of in situ monitoring of
in-vessel mirrors in a fusion reactor, V. G. Konovalov, Review of Scientific
Instruments - On the Prospects of Using Metallic Glasses for In-vessel Mirrors for
Plasma Diagnostics in ITER, V. S. Voitsenya, Metallic Glasses - Formation and
Properties, Chapter 7, Behrooz
Movahedi (Ed.), Intech, ISBN 978-953-51-2511-2 - ITER first mirror mock-ups
exposed in Magnum-PSI. , L. Marot, Nuclear Fusion Plasma cleaning of Be coated mirrors, L. Moser, Physica Scripta - ITER perspective on fusion reactor diagnostics - A spectroscopic
view, MFM De Bock, Journal of Instrumentation - Engineering estimates of impurity fluxes on the ITER port plugs, V.
Kotov, Nucl. Fusion |
Current annexes, tasks or
other activities during the year
|
Ref. and Name |
Objectives |
Participants |
Milestones during the year |
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This Implementing Agreement has no annexes or associated Tasks. |
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Co-operation with other fusion
collaborative groups
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Workshops |
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Include here information relative to co-operation (experiments,
research, publications or activities) with other international collaborations
relating to fusion (e.g. IAs, ITER, ITPA, IFMIF, IAEA, IFMIF or others). Coordination with
the ITPA involves mainly the planning and implementation of joint experiments
on multiple devices with prescribed parameter ranges and conditions in order
to investigate specific high-priority physics issues for the ITER project and
DEMO concepts that would benefit from comparative studies. Since these can
only be carried out internationally, the CTP-IA has provided valuable
opportunities for its Contracting Parties. These activities have been
coordinated during the following workshops and meetings: - 7th International Tokamak Physics Activities (ITPA) Joint
Experiments Workshop (JEX), 6-8 December 2016, ITER Council Room, ITER
Headquarters 72/5010 - 18th Meeting of the ITPA Coordinating Committee, CTP-ITPA JEX Planning
Meeting, 6-8 December 2016, ITER Council Room, ITER Headquarters 72/5010 |
Participation
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New Contracting Parties |
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Include here decisions or actions concerning possible new participants
(e.g. ExCo vote, formal letters, signature). Participation of ITER China Domestic Agency (CNDA) as a Contracting
Party in the CTP IA became effective as of 16 January 2013. Participation of ITER as a Contracting Party in the CTP IA became
effective as of 20 October 2012. Participation of the Institute for Plasma Research, India, in this
Agreement became effective as of 11 April 2011. Participation of the Government of Korea as a Contracting Party in
this Agreement became effective as of 5 February 2010 Russia was invited to become
a member of CTP-IA according to the decision made at the CTP-IA CC meeting in
2010 IEA TCP-CTP Executive
Committee agreed to the invitation of Australia to join the IEA TCP-CTP in
2016 the IEA TCP-CTP Executive
Committee recognised once more the importance of Russia as a major partner in
the ongoing collaborations and agreed that the outgoing Chair prepares a new
letter of invitation to Russia to join the IEA TCP-CTP addressed to the
Kurchatov institute in 2016 |
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Current Contracting Parties |
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Include here ExCo decisions or actions concerning existing
participants (e.g. no longer participates, seeking alternates). - European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), European Union - Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Japan - United States Department Of Energy (USDOE), United States - The Korean Ministry of Education, Science And Technology (MEST),
Korea. - The Institute For Plasma Research (IPR), India. - ITER International Organization - ITER China Domestic Agency (CNDA) |
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Current ExCo participants |
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CHAIR Name: Richard Pitts, Organisation: ITER-IO, Country: ITER-IO, Email: Richard
.Pitts@iter.org, Name: Remmelt Haange, Organisation:
ITER-IO, Country: ITER-IO, Email: rem.haange@iter.org, Name: Alexander Alekseev, Organisation: ITER-IO, Country: ITER-IO, Email:
alexander.alekseev@iter.org, Name: David Campbell, Organisation:
ITER-IO, Country: ITER-IO, Email: david.campbell@iter.org, Name: Guenter Janeschitz, Organisation: ITER-IO, Country: ITER-IO, Email:
guenter.janeschitz@iter.org, Name: Mario Merola, Organisation:
ITER-IO, Country: ITER-IO, Email: mario.merola@iter.org, Name: Tony Donné, Organisation: EUROfusion, Country: EU, Email:
Tony.Donne@euro-fusion.org, Name: Lars-Göran Eriksson, Organisation: European Commission, Country:
EU,Email: lars-goran.eriksson@ec.europa.eu, Name: Duarte Borba, Organisation: EUROfusion, Country: EU, Email:
Duarte.Borba@euro-fusion.org, Name: Hartmut Zohm, Organisation: IPP, Country: EU, Email:
hartmut.zohm@ipp.mpg.de, Name: Xavier Litaudon, Organisation: EUROfusion, Country: EU, Email:
Xavier.Litaudon@euro-fusion.org, Name: Predhiman Krishan, Organisation: IPR, Country: India, Email: kaw@ipr.res.in, Name: R. Jha, Organisation: IPR,
Country: India, Email: rjha@ipr.res.in, Name: Takaaki Fujita,
Organisation: JAEA, Country: Japan, Email: fujita.takaaki@jaea.go.jp, Name: Yutaka Kamada, Organisation: JAEA, Country: Japan, Email:
kamada.yutaka@jaea.go.jp, Name: Shunsuke Ide, Organisation: JAEA, Country: Japan, Email:
Shunsuke.Ide@jaea.go.jp, Name: Yoshihiko Koid, Organisation: JAEA, Country: Japan, Email:
koide.yoshihiko@jaea.go.jp,
Name: Kouji Shinohara, Organisation: JAEA, Country: Japan, Email:
shinohara.koji@jaea.go.jp, Name: Naoyuki Oyama, Organisation: JAEA, Country: Japan, Email:
oyama.naoyuki@jaea.go.jp, Name: Jong-Gu Kwak, Organisation: NFRI, Country: Korea, Email:
jgkwak@nfri.re.kr, Name: Yeong-Kook Oh, Organisation: NFRI, Country: Korea, Email:
ykoh@nfri.re.kr, Name: Jin-Yong Kim, Organisation: NFRI, Country: Korea, Email: jykim@nfri.re.kr, Name: Siwoo Yoon, Organisation: NFRI, Country: Korea, Email:
swyoon@nfri.re.kr, Name: Luo Delong, Organisation: ITER-China, Country: China, Email:
luodl@iterchina.cn, Name: He Kaihui, Organisation: ITER-China, Country: China, Email:
hekh@iterchina.cn, Name: John Mandrekas, Organisation: DOE, Country: US, Email:
John.Mandrekas@science.doe.gov, Name: Rich Hawryluk, Organisation: DOE, Country: US, Email:
rhawrylu@pppl.gov, Name: Charles Greenfield, Organisation: DOE, Country: US, Email:
greenfield@fusion.gat.com, Name: Dave Hill, Organisation: DOE, Country: US, Email:
hilldn@fusion.gat.com, Name: Earl Marmar, Organisation: DOE, Country: US, Email:
marmar@psfc.mit.edu, |
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Current Annex or Task participants |
|
Insert here the names and contact details of participants in the Annex
or Task (and sub-task if/as necessary). This
Implementing Agreement has no annexes or associated Tasks. |