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Lecture

Heating, Burning Plasmas, ITER and Route to Fusion Power Plant

In course

PHYS-424: Plasma II

This course completes the knowledge in plasma physics that students have acquired in the previous two courses, with a discussion of different applications, in the fields of magnetic confinement and controlled fusion, astrophysical and space plasmas, and so ...

Description

This lecture covers the concepts of heating and burning plasmas, focusing on the ITER project and the path towards a fusion power plant. It discusses various methods of plasma heating, such as neutral beam injection and electromagnetic waves, along with the challenges and advantages of each method. The lecture also delves into the specifics of tritium, its production, and the importance of tritium self-sufficiency in fusion reactors. Additionally, it explores the design goals of ITER, the construction progress, and the future prospects beyond ITER with the DEMO project.

Instructor

Holger Reimerdes

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Plasma physics: Fusion power

Related concepts (31)

Fusion power

Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2023, no device has reached net power. Fusion processes require fuel and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time to create a plasma in which fusion can occur.

ITER

ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, iter meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process similar to that of the Sun. Upon completion of construction of the main reactor and first plasma, planned for late 2025, it will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor.

Tokamak

A tokamak (ˈtoʊkəmæk; токамáк) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power. , it was the leading candidate for a practical fusion reactor. Tokamaks were initially conceptualized in the 1950s by Soviet physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov, inspired by a letter by Oleg Lavrentiev. The first working tokamak was attributed to the work of Natan Yavlinsky on the T-1 in 1958.

Neutral-beam injection

Neutral-beam injection (NBI) is one method used to heat plasma inside a fusion device consisting in a beam of high-energy neutral particles that can enter the magnetic confinement field. When these neutral particles are ionized by collision with the plasma particles, they are kept in the plasma by the confining magnetic field and can transfer most of their energy by further collisions with the plasma. By tangential injection in the torus, neutral beams also provide momentum to the plasma and current drive, one essential feature for long pulses of burning plasmas.

Plasma (physics)

Plasma () is one of four fundamental states of matter, characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, being mostly associated with stars, including the Sun. Extending to the rarefied intracluster medium and possibly to intergalactic regions, plasma can be artificially generated by heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field.

Related lectures (38)

Plasma Heating: Neutral Beams MOOC: Plasma Physics: Applications

Explores the limitations of ohmic heating in plasma and the advantages and drawbacks of neutral beam injection for additional plasma heating.

Heating and Current Drive by Waves MOOC: Plasma Physics: Applications

Explores the use of waves for heating and current drive in tokamaks, focusing on ICRH and LH waves, their mechanisms, and antenna features.

From Fusion to DEMO MOOC: Plasma Physics: Applications

Explores the progress in magnetic confinement fusion, roadmaps to fusion power, ITER components, and the path towards DEMO.

Burning Plasmas: Fast Ions Role MOOC: Plasma Physics: Applications

Explores burning plasma specifics, fast ions role, losses, MHD modes, turbulence, Alfvén waves interaction, and burn stability.

Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy