Economic aspects of the deployment of fusion energy: the valley of death and the innovation cycle

The speed at which fusion energy can be deployed is considered. Several economical factors are identified that impede this speed. Most importantly, the combination of an unprecedentedly high investment level needed for the proof of principle and the relatively long construction time of fusion plants precludes an effective innovation cycle. The valley of death is discussed, i.e. the period when a large investment is needed for the construction of early generations of fusion reactors, when there is no return yet. It is concluded that, within the mainstream scenario-a few DEMO reactors towards 2060 followed by generations of relatively large reactors-there is no realistic path to an appreciable contribution to the energy mix in the twenty-first century if economic constraints are applied. In other words, fusion will not contribute to the energy transition in the time frame of the Paris climate agreement. Within the frame of this analysis, the development of smaller, cheaper and most importantly, fast-to-build fusion plants could possibly represent an option to accelerate the introduction of fusion power. Whether this is possible is a technical question that is outside the scope of this paper, but this question is addressed in other contributions to the Royal Society workshop. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Fusion energy using tokamaks: can development be accelerated?'.

Forward modeling of collective Thomson scattering for Wendelstein 7-X plasmas: Electrostatic approximation

In this paper, we present a method for numerical computation of collective Thomson scattering (CTS). We developed a forward model, eCTS, in the electrostatic approximation and benchmarked it against a full electromagnetic model. Differences between the electrostatic and the electromagnetic models are discussed. The sensitivity of the results to the ion temperature and the plasma composition is demonstrated. We integrated the model into the Bayesian data analysis framework Minerva and used it for the analysis of noisy synthetic data sets produced by a full electromagnetic model. It is shown that eCTS can be used for the inference of the bulk ion temperature. The model has been used to infer the bulk ion temperature from the first CTS measurements on Wendelstein 7-X.

Fast analysis of collective Thomson scattering spectra on Wendelstein 7-X

Two methods for fast analysis of Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) spectra are presented: Function Parametrization (FP) and feedforward Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). At this time, a CTS diagnostic is being commissioned at the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator, with ion temperature measurements in the plasma core as its primary goal. A mapping was made from a database of simulated CTS spectra to the corresponding ion and electron temperatures (T_i and T_e ). The mean absolute mapping errors are 4.2% and 9.9% relative to the corresponding T_i , for the ANN and FP, respectively, for spectra with Gaussian noise equivalent to 10% of the average of the spectral maxima in the database at 650 sampling points per GHz and within a limited parameter space. Although FP provides some insight into the information contents of the CTS spectra, ANNs provide a higher accuracy and noise robustness, are easier to implement, and are more adaptable to a larger parameter space. These properties make ANN mappings a promising all-round method for fast CTS data analysis. Addition of impurity concentrations to the current parameter space will enable fast bulk ion temperature measurements in the plasma core region of W7-X.

Rotation of a strongly magnetized hydrogen plasma column determined from an asymmetric Balmer-beta spectral line with two radiating distributions

A potential buildup in front of a magnetized cascaded arc hydrogen plasma source is explored via E x B rotation and plate potential measurements. Plasma rotation approaches thermal speeds with maximum velocities of 10 km/s. The diagnostic for plasma rotation is optical emission spectroscopy on the Balmer-beta line. Asymmetric spectra are observed. A detailed consideration is given on the interpretation of such spectra with a two distribution model. This consideration includes radial dependence of emission determined by Abel inversion of the lateral intensity profile. Spectrum analysis is performed considering Doppler shift, Doppler broadening, Stark broadening, and Stark splitting.

High sensitivity imaging Thomson scattering for low temperature plasma

A highly sensitive imaging Thomson scattering system was developed for low temperature (0.1-10 eV) plasma applications at the Pilot-PSI linear plasma generator. The essential parts of the diagnostic are a neodymium doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser operating at the second harmonic (532 nm), a laser beam line with a unique stray light suppression system and a detection branch consisting of a Littrow spectrometer equipped with an efficient detector based on a "Generation III" image intensifier combined with an intensified charged coupled device camera. The system is capable of measuring electron density and temperature profiles of a plasma column of 30 mm in diameter with a spatial resolution of 0.6 mm and an observational error of 3% in the electron density (n(e)) and 6% in the electron temperature (T(e)) at n(e) = 4 x 10(19) m(-3). This is achievable at an accumulated laser input energy of 11 J (from 30 laser pulses at 10 Hz repetition frequency). The stray light contribution is below 9 x 10(17) m(-3) in electron density equivalents by the application of a unique stray light suppression system. The amount of laser energy that is required for a n(e) and T(e) measurement is 7 x 10(20)n(e) J, which means that single shot measurements are possible for n(e)>2 x 10(21) m(-3).

Plasma–surface interaction in the context of ITER

The decreasing availability of energy and concern about climate change necessitate the development of novel sustainable energy sources. Fusion energy is such a source. Although it will take several decades to develop it into routinely operated power sources, the ultimate potential of fusion energy is very high and badly needed. A major step forward in the development of fusion energy is the decision to construct the experimental test reactor ITER. ITER will stimulate research in many areas of science. This article serves as an introduction to some of those areas. In particular, we discuss research opportunities in the context of plasma-surface interactions. The fusion plasma, with a typical temperature of 10 keV, has to be brought into contact with a physical wall in order to remove the helium produced and drain the excess energy in the fusion plasma. The fusion plasma is far too hot to be brought into direct contact with a physical wall. It would degrade the wall and the debris from the wall would extinguish the plasma. Therefore, schemes are developed to cool down the plasma locally before it impacts on a physical surface. The resulting plasma-surface interaction in ITER is facing several challenges including surface erosion, material redeposition and tritium retention. In this article we introduce how the plasma-surface interaction relevant for ITER can be studied in small scale experiments. The various requirements for such experiments are introduced and examples of present and future experiments will be given. The emphasis in this article will be on the experimental studies of plasma-surface interactions.

Toroidal plasma rotation induced by the dynamic ergodic divertor in the TEXTOR tokamak

The first results of the Dynamic Ergodic Divertor in TEXTOR, when operating in the m/n=3/1 mode configuration, are presented. The deeply penetrating external magnetic field perturbation of this configuration increases the toroidal plasma rotation. Staying below the excitation threshold for the m/n=2/1 tearing mode, this toroidal rotation is always in the direction of the plasma current, even if the toroidal projection of the rotating magnetic field perturbation is in the opposite direction. The observed toroidal rotation direction is consistent with a radial electric field, generated by an enhanced electron transport in the ergodic layers near the resonances of the perturbation. This is an effect different from theoretical predictions, which assume a direct coupling between rotating perturbation and plasma to be the dominant effect of momentum transfer.