Eurofusion Works Its Six-Pack for Iter Going Full Computational Throttle How Jet Inspired the Sound of the Universe
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FUSION IN EUROPE NEWS & VIEWS ON THE PROGRESS OF FUSION RESEARCH EUROFUSION WORKS ITS SIX-PACK FOR ITER GOING FULL COMPUTATIONAL THROTTLE HOW JET INSPIRED THE SOUND OF THE UNIVERSE 2 2016 FUSION IN EUROPE | Moving Forward | EUROfusion | 2 2016 Contents COLLABORATE. ELABORATE. CREATE. The world’s biggest magnet: If you are looking for success in fusion research, you are holding the right Representatives of F4E, ITER IO Moving Forward magazine in your hands. Of course, collaborations will always have draw- and F4E contractors standing inside the first ITER Toroidal backs. Especially when 27 nations are involved and, what is more, sensitive Field coil winding pack. It took EUROfusion and highly complex machines are sometimes a bit moody. more than 600 people from 3 Collaborate. Elaborate. Create. 26 companies to complete the manufacture. 4 EUROfusion works its six-pack for ITER EUROfusion aims to demonstrate that fusion electricity can become reality. Picture: Fusion for Energy © 8 Impressions Moreover, EUROfusion shows what can be achieved as a result of challen- 10 EUROfusion goes full computational throttle ging multinational projects: a world record, for example. In collaboration MARIE-LINE MAYORAL with the Swiss Plasma Center, a lab of the Italian ENEA created a super- Recently, Marie-Line Mayoral became Broader Approach EUROfusion’s Experimental Program- conducting cable which exceeds even ITER’s demands in terms of current. mes group leader. This means, she ma- nages the experimental programmes for 12 JT-60SA vessel ready for passengers Also, researchers at the upcoming test tokamak WEST were scratching EUROfusion funded facilities such as the medium sized tokamaks, Wendelstein their expert heads to find a solution for their diagnostics and went ahead Market Place 7-X and upcoming MAST and WEST. using tiny instruments made from brittle tungsten. Who did they call in to 14 Introducing alternative fusion concepts: help? KIT in Germany. After teaming up, they managed to create 70 sensi- Tri Alpha Energy tive pieces designed to aid fusion progress. Research Units The staff at the medium sized tokamaks ASDEX-Upgrade and TCV, the big fusion experiment JET and celebrity stellarator Wendelstein 7-X, will surely 14 16 Brittle me this have something to say about team work. Take a look at Fusion in Europe to 18 A superconducting cable breaks records Picture: Piru de la Puente discover what happened in the vessels of those machines over the course Community of the last half year. People As the EUROfusion quartet consisting of three tokamaks and one stellara- tor powers up, there is a group of enthusiasts who will make them even more STEFFEN ANTUSCH 20 How JET inspires the sound of the universe popular. Five friends join to give fusion a voice beyond European borders. Steffen Antusch knows brittleness by heart. The materials expert from Karls- 22 Taking the latest of fusion research Although Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have a history back home ruhe helped the French team at the in this research, the local universities no longer provide lectures on fusion. WEST tokamak to find a solution for 24 Young faces of fusion – Meriame Berboucha The recently established Fusion Education Network is about to fight that tiny diagnostics which must survive in a harsh environment. Finally, 70 Lang- News and take home what the European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion muir probes were sent from Karlsruhe 25 The European Innovation Council / and Engineering Physics gave them: an idea of collaboration, an elaborate to Cadarache. Nature Physics Insight project management and the creation of something new. 20 Perspectives Picture: ENEA 26 Summing Up EUROfusion © Tony Donné (EUROfusion Programme Manager) Imprint Programme Management Unit – Garching 2016. FUSION IN EUROPE Boltzmannstr. 2 This newsletter or parts of it may not be reproduced ISSN 1818-5355 85748 Garching / Munich, Germany without permission. Text, pictures and layout, except phone: +49-89-3299-4128 where noted, courtesy of the EUROfusion members. LUIGI MUZZI The EUROfusion members are the Research Units email: [email protected] We can’t really tell what it was that put of the European Fusion Programme. Responsibility editors: Petra Nieckchen, Anne Purschwitz the smile on the face of Italian resear- for the information and views expressed in this cher Luigi Muzzi. Maybe it was the major newsletter lies entirely with the authors. Neither success in his research on superconduc- Subscribe at [email protected] the Research Units or anyone acting on their behalf ting cables. Luigi and a team from ENEA’s superconductivity lab have achieved a For more information see the /fusion2050 @PetraonAir is responsible for any damage resulting from the solution which satisfies the demands of website: www.euro-fusion.org @FusionInCloseUp @APurschwitz use of information contained in this publication. the first fusion power plant, DEMO. 3 FUSION IN EUROPE | Moving Forward | EUROfusion | f someone was definitely not in hiberna- EUROFUSION WORKS Ition, it was EUROfusion during the past half year. In February, the three tokamaks ITS SIX-PACK FOR ITER JET, ASDEX Upgrade and TCV were running simultaneously, accompanied by the first experimental campaign of the shiny new Wendelstein 7-X device. Two more experi- ments, MAST-U and WEST, are also about to flex their muscles. AN OVERACHIEVEMENT morning in brief stand-up meetings. What EUROfusion’s man in the W7-X control was originally designed as an informative room is Andreas Dinklage. He seems pro- gathering to communicate updates on the foundly content as he reports on the fina- technical status of the machine to a selec- lised operation in Greifswald. About 40 ted few, became an open discussion for percent of the hydrogen plasmas created everyone in the control room. in the stellarator could be used for pure “Our task is to ensure that we get scientific results. “An overachievement”, CARRYING THE RISK ON ALL SHOULDERS the most out of the results”, says EUROfusion’s Experi- he calls it. Dinklage’s ‘One-team approach’ is rather mental Programmes Group Leader Marie-Line Mayo- TCV, the tokamak from the Swiss Research Unit, with a one-programme approach. At other, well ral. Therefore, EUROfusion’s scientific programme in the Neutral Beam on the established, fusion devices around Europe the ITER Physics Department has been organised into left and the Phase Contrast and Switzerland, the experiments are se- Imaging diag nostic on the Overall, we shot 14 work packages. Most of the deliverables from the right. Picture: SPC parated into a home programme which is work packages rely on the results of current or future about 940 discharge owned by the hosting Research Unit and the EUROfusion work package program- campaigns in the Joint European Torus (JET), the Axi- programmes. me, even though the programmes as a ally Symmetric Divertor Experiment (ASDEX) Upgrade, Andreas Dinklage, whole are fully aligned along the Fusion Project Leader of the EUROfusion Work Package Roadmap. The time for each programme the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) as well as ‘Preparation and exploitation of the W7-X campaign’ in the upcoming Tungsten (W) Environment in Steady- on the machine depends on the arranged state Tokamak (WEST) and the upgrade of the Mega payment. Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST). This is deman- THE ‘ONE-TEAM’ APPROACH In Greifswald, every participating team, ding for the consortium, which not only promotes high The premiere Wendelstein 7-x campaign whether it be the Max Planck internal re- priority experiments but also coordinates scientists enabled unique workflows to set up open searchers, EUROfusion’s scientists or the from 29 European Research Units and further, ensu- exchange and moreover, to apply to the US delegation are able to carry the risks daily status of the shiny new machine. and benefits. “We didn’t care who paid how res the scientific exchange within the community. Of Dinklage proudly calls it the ‘One-team much but conducted a joint programme course, the consortium also contributes financially. approach’. During the three months of guided by scientific priorities, possibilities the campaign, the researchers met every and quality.” 4 5 FUSION IN EUROPE | Moving Forward | EUROfusion | The Swiss tokamak was so happy Dinklage and Task Force Leader Arturo Alonso are DRILLING HOLES IN THE VESSEL tokamaks. “I am happy that we opened up our about its new feature that it shared currently evaluating the feedback from all participants. Meanwhile, the European tokamak team is pul- control room for this fruitful exchange with in- a message on Twitter on April 18: Whether the next campaign, after installing the non-coo- ling their own weight. One device in Switzerland ternational scientists. The atmosphere is very led divertor and new plasma facing components, is able to has been working hard to keep up with its bro- collegial, much more than it has been before”, maintain this open spirit will depend on the results. ther ASDEX Upgrade. “We have almost a new says Coda. I have a new gyrotron, machine with the installed Neutral Beam Injec- NO COMPETI TION WITHIN THE FAMILY PREPARE THE HEIR a microwave source, tor”, reports Stefano Coda. It took the compa- Exciting times for stellarator research when, so far, the to- ny, which originally built the Swiss tokamak in The step ladder approach to fusion experiments which is quite powerful kamak is the concept of choice for fusion research. “There is 1992, almost three weeks to properly set up the is shown by the choice of fuel: first, hydrogen no competition. But Wendelstein must prove that we have machine for its new assets. Workers sat in the or helium, then deuterium and at the end, the (750‘000 Watts), stepped up to modern tokamaks. W7-X was built to miti- vessel and slowly drilled three holes in the wall most powerful fusion fuel, deuterium and tri- to warm me up! gate most of the stellarator’s drawbacks.