The European Power Plant Conceptual Study (PPCS) has been a study of the conceptual designs of five commercial fusion power plants, with the main emphasis on system integration. The study focused on five power plant models, named PPCS A, B, AB, C and D, which are illustrative of a wider spectrum of possibilities. The models are all based on the tokamak concept and they have approximately the same net electrical power output, 1500 MWe. The PPCS allows the clarification of the concept of DEMO, the device that will bridge the gap between ITER and the first-of-a-kind fusion power plant. An assessment of the PPCS models with limited extrapolations highlighted the physics issues that must be addressed to establish the DEMO physics basis. Similarly, a review of the DEMO technical objectives brings to the fore the issues that must be addressed to establish the engineering and technological basis for DEMO.
The wall loads due to fusion alphas as well as neutral beam injection- and ICRF-generated fast ions were simulated for ITER reference scenario-2 and scenario-4 including the effects of ferritic inserts (FIs), test blanket modules (TBMs), and 3D wall with two limiter structures. The simulations were carried out using the Monte Carlo guiding-centre orbit-following code ASCOT. The FIs were found very effective in ameliorating the detrimental effects of the toroidal ripple: the fast ion wall loads are reduced practically to their negligible axisymmetric level. The thermonuclear alpha particles overwhelmingly dominate the wall power flux. In scenario-4 practically all the power goes to the limiters, while in scenario-2 the load is fairly evenly divided between the divertor and the limiter, with hardly any power flux to other components in the first wall. This is opposite to earlier results, where hot spots were observed with 2D wall (Tobita et al 2003 Fusion Eng. Des. 65 561–8). In contrast, uncompensated ripple leads to unacceptable peak power fluxes of 0.5 MW m−2 in scenario-2 and 1 MW m−2 in scenario-4, with practically all power hitting the limiters and substantial flux arriving even at the unprotected first wall components. The local TBM structures were found to perturb the magnetic field structure globally and lead to increased wall loads. However, the TBM simulation results overestimate the TBM contribution due to an over-simplification in the vacuum field. Therefore the TBM results should be considered as an upper limit.
During some JET vertical displacement events (VDEs) plasma current and position are found to be toroidally asymmetric. When asymmetries lock, the vessel has been observed to move horizontally, consequently strong horizontal forces are expected following plasma asymmetries, whether locked or rotating. The cause of horizontal forces is, as already identified in previous works, the asymmetric circulation of current in the structures. The physics mechanism responsible for these asymmetric currents is instead an open issue and it is the object of the present analysis. In particular it will be shown that the asymmetry is not due to a direct exchange of current between plasma and structure (as in the case of halo currents) but to asymmetric conductive paths which arise, in the structures, when the plasma column asymmetrically wets the wall. Simulations of this phenomenon using finite element (FE) models have been conducted to reproduce the JET observation during locked and rotating asymmetric VDEs. Estimated sideways force, asymmetry (I p asym) and normalized asymmetry (A p asym) of plasma current, vertical position at different toroidal locations during the disruption and halo current asymmetry have been compared with measurements done at JET during upward AVDEs. The substantial match between experiments and simulations confirms the soundness of the assumptions. Furthermore, the same physical model applied to downward VDEs shows that divertor support and coils, together with the geometry of the limiting surfaces, considerably lessen asymmetric loads as experienced at JET after installing those components.
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