UK Fusion Programme 2008-2010
Lead Research Organisation:
CCFE/UKAEA
Department Name: Culham Centre for Fusion Energy
Abstract
Fusion is the main energy source of the universe; it is the process that powers the sun and the stars. If it can be harnessed economically on earth, it has the potential to be an important component of the portfolio of measures needed to ensure a secure, environmentally responsible, supply of energy, at a time when fossil fuels will be becoming increasingly expensive. There is increasing realisation of this potential as reflected by the launch of the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, being built in France, which will be the first fusion device to achieve energy gain and sustained burn.In a fusion reaction, large amounts of energy are released when the nuclei of two light atoms fuse together at extremely high temperatures to create a nucleus of a larger atom. In the most promising way to achieve these conditions on earth, strong magnetic fields in a tokamak configuration are used to control and confine the high temperature plasma.UKAEA's Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire is one of the world's leading fusion research centres, and 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. International co-operation is strong with the focus on the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER). EURATOM part-funds all national programmes in Europe including the UK's.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, utilising parallel- and super-computing facilities, supports the experimental programmes and contributes to the research and development of fusion materials and to studies of conceptual fusion power stations. The UK leads the research and development of two ITER specialist (diagnostic and heating) systems, and participates in several others 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 technology are pursued strongly, where the research overlaps with fusion R&D, and increasingly there are fusion researchers in universities with whom UKAEA works.The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the European Commission fund, provide advice and monitor the UK fusion programme (some of the European funding / for work on ITER systems - is now channelled through the new Fusion for Energy Agency in Barcelona). The Fusion Advisory Board (FAB) advises EPSRC and UKAEA on the programme and on the longer-term strategy for fusion research at Culham; FAB receives reports from the MAST Programme Advisory Committee, a sub-group on ITER and industry, and an annual UK Fusion Materials Forum.
Organisations
Publications
Hole M
(2009)
A modulation model for mode splitting of magnetic perturbations in the Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Barnes M
(2009)
Linearized model Fokker-Planck collision operators for gyrokinetic simulations. II. Numerical implementation and tests
in Physics of Plasmas
Ash A
(2009)
Feasibility of a fast optical pressure interlock for the ITER neutral beam injectors
in Fusion Engineering and Design
M J Walsh (Author)
(2009)
Performance evaluation of ITER Thomson scattering systems
Fitzgerald S
(2009)
Interaction between dislocations in bcc iron at high temperature
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Van Rooij G
(2009)
Appearance of hot spots due to deposits in the JET MKII-HD outer divertor
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Murari A
(2009)
Unbiased and non-supervised learning methods for disruption prediction at JET
in Nuclear Fusion
Kessel C
(2009)
Development of ITER 15 MA ELMy H-mode inductive scenario
in Nuclear Fusion
Arnoux G
(2009)
Divertor heat load in ITER-like advanced tokamak scenarios on JET
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
R Buttery (Author)
(2009)
Multimachine extrapolation of neoclassical tearing mode physics to ITER
Haasz A
(2009)
Thermo-oxidation and analysis of JET codeposits
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Hayashi N
(2009)
Integrated simulation of ELM energy loss and cycle in improved H-mode plasmas
in Nuclear Fusion
Wahlberg C
(2009)
Importance of centrifugal effects for the internal kink mode stability in toroidally rotating tokamak plasmas
in Physics of Plasmas
Shevchenko V
(2009)
Current Drive and Plasma Heating by Electron Bernstein Waves in MAST
Crombé K
(2009)
Radial electric field in JET advanced tokamak scenarios with toroidal field ripple
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Cottrell G
(2009)
Effect of plasma rotation on the beam-driven current
in Nuclear Fusion
Murari A
(2009)
Recent developments in data mining and soft computing for JET with a view on ITER
in Fusion Engineering and Design
Hamlyn-Harris C
(2009)
Engineering design of an RF vacuum window for the ITER ICRH antenna
in Fusion Engineering and Design
Uytdenhouwen I
(2009)
Dimple optimization for XPS characterization of TEXTOR tile depositions
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Surrey E
(2009)
Beam Induced Effects in the ITER Electrostatic Residual Ion Dump
Nguyen-Manh D
(2009)
Model many-body Stoner Hamiltonian for binary FeCr alloys
in Physical Review B
Webster A
(2009)
Magnetohydrodynamic stability at a separatrix. I. Toroidal peeling modes and the energy principle
in Physics of Plasmas
Rubel M
(2009)
Analysis of fuel retention in plasma-facing components from controlled fusion devices
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Lavrentiev M
(2009)
Magnetic cluster expansion simulations of FeCr alloys
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Haist B
(2009)
Remote handling preparations for JET EP2 shutdown
in Fusion Engineering and Design
Gates D
(2009)
Overview of results from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)
in Nuclear Fusion
Krasilnikov A
(2009)
Fundamental ion cyclotron resonance heating of JET deuterium plasmas
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Isoardi L
(2009)
Modelling SOL flow pattern spreading in the edge plasma
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Sips A
(2009)
Experimental studies of ITER demonstration discharges
in Nuclear Fusion
Sjöstrand H
(2009)
Gain stabilization control system of the upgraded magnetic proton recoil neutron spectrometer at JET.
in The Review of scientific instruments
Hawryluk R
(2009)
Principal physics developments evaluated in the ITER design review
in Nuclear Fusion
D C McDonald (Co-Author)
(2009)
Bayesian combined analysis of JET LIDAR, edge LIDAR and interferometry diagnostics
Wicks R
(2009)
SPATIAL CORRELATION OF SOLAR WIND FLUCTUATIONS AND THEIR SOLAR CYCLE DEPENDENCE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Rozhansky V
(2009)
Simulation of H-modes discharges in ASDEX-Upgrade and MAST
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Tsui C
(2009)
Temperature dependence of D removal from JET codeposits by thermo-oxidation
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Nicholls R
(2009)
The effect of structural changes on ELNES for C 60
in Chemical Physics Letters
De Temmerman G
(2009)
Deuterium retention and release in tungsten co-deposited layers
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Baranov Y
(2009)
LH power modulation experiment on JET
Vrancken M
(2009)
Scattering-matrix arc detection on the JET ITER-like ICRH antenna
in Fusion Engineering and Design
Webster A
(2009)
Techniques for studying the separatrix of tokamak plasmas
in Physics of Plasmas
Reimerdes H
(2009)
Effect of resonant and non-resonant magnetic braking on error field tolerance in high beta plasmas
in Nuclear Fusion
Zagórski R
(2009)
Self-consistent modeling of impurity seeded JET advanced tokamak scenarios
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Tatsuno T
(2009)
Nonlinear phase mixing and phase-space cascade of entropy in gyrokinetic plasma turbulence.
in Physical review letters
Matthews G
(2009)
Current status of the JET ITER-like Wall Project
in Physica Scripta
Saarelma S
(2009)
MHD stability analysis of small ELM regimes in JET
in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Samtaney R
(2009)
Formation of plasmoid chains in magnetic reconnection.
in Physical review letters
M R Turnyanskiy (Co-Author)
(2009)
Neutral particle diagnostics on MAST
| Description | Fusion research is focused on ITER (the international experiment being built in France) followed by a demonstration power station (DEMO). The Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) is a world-leading fusion research centre. Some highlights from the last two years are summarised below (many the result of collaborations with universities and overseas laboratories). Additional information is in Annual Reports (http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/annual_reports.aspx). Reacting plasmas: The UK programme, funded by EPSRC and EURATOM, is focused on the MAST experiment. Physics studies benefited from high power heating systems and improvements to diagnostics. A major upgrade to the system to measure temperature and density profiles (part funded by York University) was completed and provides unmatched spatial resolution. Important progress from both MAST, and the linked Theory and Modelling programme, has been made in several key areas directly relevant to optimising ITER performance:- energy confinement, enabling more reliable prediction of plasma performance in future devices; control of potentially damaging instabilities; improved understanding of performance limiting core and edge plasma instabilities; gas injection to mitigate the effects of rapid plasma terminations (disruptions), etc. CCFE has contributed to the European JET programme, with notable achievements including operation at high power and current, and substantial progress in scenarios that are suitable for steady state operation in ITER. The EPSRC grant pays the UK contribution to JET operation. Materials: Work included: development of techniques for modelling iron-chromium alloys in the high-temperature limit; modelling of steels and tungsten to compare with experimental data from Oxford University; Ion Beam Analysis measurements of erosion, deposition and hydrogen-isotope retention in tiles removed from the JET tokamak. ITER Systems: CCFE has secured lead roles in two major grants to develop ITER heating systems, and leads a consortium to bid for the LIDAR temperature and density measurement system. CCFE has smaller roles in several other areas. Optimised power plants: Work has concentrated on a detailed assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of pulsed and steady-state DEMOs. Several clear advantages in a steady-state device were identified, however the potential simplification in a pulsed device (greatly reduced need for current drive) is a significant counter-advantage. Conceptual design studies of a spherical tokamak Component Test Facility have continued. A big challenge for any fusion system is dealing with the large exhaust power from burning plasmas. One novel promising option, for both DEMO and CTF, which will be part of the MAST upgrade, is the "Super-X" expanded divertor. Major upgrade to MAST: the design has been developed. The purpose is to give higher performance, longer pulse plasmas allowing definitive tests of the physics of an ST-based CTF, and more exacting studies of ITER physics. In late 2009, RCUK reviewed UK fusion research and following this EPSRC approved funding for the upgrade. In addition CCFE has promoted industry involvement in fusion and significantly assisted UK companies in winning ITER business, increased university involvement (e.g. PhDs), and developed its skills-base for an increased emphasis on technology as recommended by the RCUK review. |
| Exploitation Route | In addition CCFE has promoted industry involvement in fusion and significantly assisted UK companies in winning ITER business, increased university involvement (e.g. PhDs), and developed its skills-base for an increased emphasis on technology as recommended by the RCUK review. |
| Sectors | Energy |
| URL | http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/annual_reports.aspx |
| Description | As well as its long term task, developing fusion power, CCFE has promoted industry involvement in fusion. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2008 |
| Sector | Energy |
| Impact Types | Economic |