Thermally Stable Operation of Engineering Test Reactor Tokamaks
- 1 September 1989
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Fusion Technology
- Vol. 16 (2) , 185-196
- https://doi.org/10.13182/fst89-a29147
Abstract
It is desirable for the plasma operating points of future Engineering Test Reactor (ETR) tokamaks to be in parameter regimes that are inherently stable to thermal fluctuations; in other words, thermal equilibrium is maintained by properties of the power balance terms themselves without an active burn control system. Methodologies are presented for calculating thermally stable operating points and scenarios to achieve these conditions. Results are given for an ETR tokamak with major radius R0 = 5.8 m in both the ignition and current-drive modes. Though the results are sensitive to the form of the energy confinement scaling law used, for enhancements over L-mode confinement by factors of 1.5 to 2.0, stable operating regions in (n, T) space have been identified for ignited operation with T ≥ 20 keV and for current-drive steady-state operation with T ≈ 25 keV. Burn dynamics simulations and discussion of critical issues are also presented. The analyses are general and should be applicable to a wide var...Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Deep penetration fuelling of reactor-grade tokamak plasmas with accelerated compact toroidsNuclear Fusion, 1988
- Fractional Power Operation of Tokamak Reactors: Issues and ProspectsFusion Technology, 1987
- MHD-Limits to Plasma ConfinementPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 1984
- Contour analysis of fusion reactor plasma performanceNuclear Fusion, 1982
- Effect of transonic flow in the ablation cloud on the lifetime of a solid hydrogen pellet in a plasmaPhysics of Fluids, 1978
- Space-dependent effects on the Lawson and ignition conditions and thermal equilibria in tokamaksNuclear Fusion, 1976
- Operating regimes of controlled thermonuclear reactors and stability against fundamental-mode excursions in particle densities and temperaturesNuclear Fusion, 1973