No abstract

Plasma facing components in future thermonuclear fusion devices will be subjected to intense transient thermal loads due to Edge Localized Modes (type I ELMs), plasma disruptions etc.. To exclude irreversible damage to the divertor targets, local energy deposition must remain below the damage threshold for the selected wall materials. For monolithic tungsten (pure tungsten and tungsten alloys) power densities above 0.3 GW/m² with 1 ms duration result in the formation of a dense crack network. Thin tungsten coatings for the so-called ITER-like wall in JET, which have been deposited on a 2-directional carbon-fiber composite (CFC) material, are even less resistant to thermal shock damage; here the threshold values are by a factor of 2 lower. First ELM-simulation experiments with high cycle numbers up to 10 4 cycles on actively cooled bulk tungsten targets do not reveal any cracks for absorbed power densities up to 0.2 GW/m² and ELM-durations in the submillisecond range (0.8 ms); at somewhat higher power densities (0.27 GW/m 2 , Δt = 0.5 ms) cracks have been detected for 10 6 cycles.

We present an ultrafast neural network (NN) model, QLKNN, which predicts core tokamak transport heat and particle fluxes. QLKNN is a surrogate model based on a database of 300 million flux calculations of the quasilinear gyrokinetic transport model QuaLiKiz. The database covers a wide range of realistic tokamak core parameters. Physical features such as the existence of a critical gradient for the onset of turbulent transport were integrated into the neural network training methodology. We have coupled QLKNN to the tokamak modelling framework JINTRAC and rapid control-oriented tokamak transport solver RAPTOR. The coupled frameworks are demonstrated and validated through application to three JET shots covering a representative spread of H-mode operating space, predicting turbulent transport of energy and particles in the plasma core. JINTRAC-QLKNN and RAPTOR-QLKNN are able to accurately reproduce JINTRAC-QuaLiKiz T i,e and n e profiles, but 3 to 5 orders of magnitude faster. Simulations which take hours are reduced down to only a few tens of seconds. The discrepancy in the final source-driven predicted profiles between QLKNN and QuaLiKiz is on the order 1%-15%. Also the dynamic behaviour was well captured by QLKNN, with differences of only 4%-10% compared to JINTRAC-QuaLiKiz observed at mid-radius, for a study of density buildup following the L-H transition. Deployment of neural network surrogate models in multi-physics integrated tokamak modelling is a promising route towards enabling accurate and fast tokamak scenario optimization, Uncertainty Quantification, and control applications.

A power-balance model, with radiation losses from impurities and neutrals, gives a unified description of the density limit (DL) of the stellarator, the L-mode tokamak, and the reversed field pinch (RFP). The model predicts a Sudo-like scaling for the stellarator, a Greenwald-like scaling, , for the RFP and the ohmic tokamak, a mixed scaling, , for the additionally heated L-mode tokamak. In a previous paper (Zanca et al 2017 Nucl. Fusion 57 056010) the model was compared with ohmic tokamak, RFP and stellarator experiments. Here, we address the issue of the DL dependence on heating power in the L-mode tokamak. Experimental data from high-density disrupted L-mode discharges performed at JET, as well as in other machines, are taken as a term of comparison. The model fits the observed maximum densities better than the pure Greenwald limit.

Samples of tungsten and tungsten-tantalum alloy (with 5 mass percent Ta) were exposed to high-flux deuterium plasma at different fluences. The surface modification was studied with scanning electron microscopy, and deuterium retention was measured by thermal desorption spectroscopy. In the high fluence range of ~3.5*10 26-10 27 m-2 the surface of the W samples exhibited heavy blistering, while blisters on the surface of W-Ta were considerably smaller in size and number. Deuterium retention in this fluence range was found to be systematically higher in W than in W-Ta. Correlation between the evolution of the blistering patterns and the TDS spectra as a function of fluence suggests that trapping in the sub-surface cavities associated with blisters is the predominant trapping mechanism in tungsten in case of high fluence exposures. We attribute the lower retention in W-Ta under the investigated conditions to the weaker blistering.

The 2014–2016 JET results are reviewed in the light of their significance for optimising the ITER research plan for the active and non-active operation. More than 60 h of plasma operation with ITER first wall materials successfully took place since its installation in 2011. New multi-machine scaling of the type I-ELM divertor energy flux density to ITER is supported by first principle modelling. ITER relevant disruption experiments and first principle modelling are reported with a set of three disruption mitigation valves mimicking the ITER setup. Insights of the L–H power threshold in Deuterium and Hydrogen are given, stressing the importance of the magnetic configurations and the recent measurements of fine-scale structures in the edge radial electric. Dimensionless scans of the core and pedestal confinement provide new information to elucidate the importance of the first wall material on the fusion performance. H-mode plasmas at ITER triangularity (H  =  1 at βN ~ 1.8 and n/nGW ~ 0.6) have been sustained at 2 MA during 5 s. The ITER neutronics codes have been validated on high performance experiments. Prospects for the coming D–T campaign and 14 MeV neutron calibration strategy are reviewed.

No abstract

A direct comparison of deuterium retention in samples of tungsten and two grades of tungsten-tantalum alloys-W1%Ta and W-5%Ta, exposed to deuterium plasmas (ion flux ∼10 24 m −2 s −1 , ion energy at the biased target ∼50 eV) at the plasma generator Pilot-PSI was performed using thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). No systematic difference in terms of total retention in tungsten and tungsten-tantalum was identified. The measured retention value for each grade did not deviate by more than 24% from the value averaged over the three grades exposed to the same conditions. No additional desorption peaks appeared in the TDS spectra of the W-Ta samples as compared with the W target, indicating that no additional kinds of traps are introduced by the alloying of W with Ta. In the course of the experiment the same samples were exposed to the same plasma conditions several times, and it is demonstrated that samples with the history of prior exposures yield an increase in deuterium retention of up to 130% under the investigated conditions compared with the samples that were not exposed before. We consider this as evidence that exposure of the considered materials to ions with energy below the displacement threshold generates additional traps for deuterium. The positions of the release peaks caused by these traps are similar for W and W-Ta, which indicates that the corresponding traps are of the same kind.