UK Fusion Programme
Lead Research Organisation:
CCFE/UKAEA
Department Name: Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
Abstract
Fusion is the energy-releasing process that powers the sun and other stars. If it can be harnessed economically on earth it would be an essentially limitless source of safe, environmentally responsible energy. Fusion energy is therefore strongly mission-orientated. The most promising method uses strong magnetic fields in a tokamak configuration to allow a high temperature deuterium-tritium plasma to be generated while minimising contact with the surrounding material surfaces.The UK contributes to fusion research in two ways: (i) through the UK's own programme focused on the spherical tokamak experiment MAST, and (ii) by contributing to the Joint European Torus (JET) programme. The MAST and JET facilities are situated at Culham Science Centre. International co-operation is strong with the focus on the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER), which will be the first fusion device to achieve energy gain and sustained burn.Experimental programmes on the MAST and JET tokamaks are performed to help resolve and refine understanding of key physics issues for ITER. In addition, experimental programmes on MAST focus on testing the potential of the spherical tokamak as a more compact option for future fusion devices. A strong theory and modelling group supports the experimental programmes and contributes to the research and development of fusion materials and to studies of conceptual fusion power stations. Expansion of the research and development of ITER specialist (i.e. diagnostic and heating) systems, focuses on securing major roles for the UK in the provision of two or three of these large complex projects.The results of the research are presented in reports and publications, and at conferences, expert groups and specialist committees. Collaborations with researchers in other areas of science and technologies are pursued strongly, where the research overlaps with fusion R&D.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Christopher Llewellyn-Smith (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Shibaev S
(2006)
MAST data acquisition system
in Fusion Engineering and Design
Wilson H
(2006)
Magneto-hydrodynamic stability of the H-mode transport barrier as a model for edge localized modes: an overview
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Connor J
(2006)
Magnetic geometry, plasma profiles, and stability
in Plasma Physics Reports
Brutti S
(2006)
Lattice stability of Ca, Sr and Yb disilicides
in Intermetallics
Ahn J
(2006)
L-mode SOL width scaling in the MAST spherical tokamak
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Sircombe N
(2006)
Kinetic effects in laser-plasma coupling: Vlasov theory and computations
in Journal de Physique IV (Proceedings)
Cruz N
(2006)
JET real-time project test-bench software structure
in Fusion Engineering and Design
Salmi A
(2006)
JET experiments to assess the clamping of the fast ion energy distribution during ICRF heating due to finite Larmor radius effects
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Neu R
(2007)
Investigation of tungsten coatings on graphite and CFC
in Physica Scripta
Kramer G
(2006)
Interpretation of core localized Alfvén eigenmodes in DIII-D and Joint European Torus reversed magnetic shear plasmas
in Physics of Plasmas
Merrifield J
(2007)
Intermittency, dissipation, and scaling in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
in Physics of Plasmas
Lönnroth J
(2006)
Integrated ELM Modelling
in Contributions to Plasma Physics
Darrow D
(2006)
Initial results from the lost alpha diagnostics on Joint European Torus
in Review of Scientific Instruments
Duffy D
(2007)
Including the effects of electronic stopping and electron-ion interactions in radiation damage simulations
in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
Andrew Y
(2006)
Improved charge exchange spectroscopy on the Joint European Torus for ion temperature and rotation velocity profiles
in Review of Scientific Instruments
Mayoral M
(2006)
Hydrogen plasmas with ICRF inverted minority and mode conversion heating regimes in the JET tokamak
in Nuclear Fusion
Conway N
(2006)
High-throughput charge exchange recombination spectroscopy system on MAST
in Review of Scientific Instruments
Andrew Y
(2006)
H-mode access in the low density regime on JET
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Surrey E
(2006)
Gas heating in the neutralizer of the ITER neutral beam injection systems
in Nuclear Fusion
Kiptily V
(2006)
Gamma ray diagnostics of high temperature magnetically confined fusion plasmas
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Murari A
(2006)
Fuzzy logic and support vector machine approaches to regime identification in JET
in IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
Tala T
(2006)
Fully predictive time-dependent transport simulations of ITB plasmas in JET, JT-60U and DIII-D
in Nuclear Fusion
Kirk A
(2006)
Filament structures at the plasma edge on MAST
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
McKay R
(2007)
Fast Alfven Wave Heating and Acceleration of Ions in a Nonuniform Magnetoplasma
in The Astrophysical Journal
Berk H
(2006)
Explanation of the JET n = 0 chirping mode
in Nuclear Fusion