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Meeting Reports MEETING REPORTS SUMMARY OF THE WORKSHOP ON field-reversed theta pinch (FRTP), and the Spheromak. The THE ENGINEERING ASPECTS OF FUSION first three of these are tokamak concepts. The OHTE and IGNITION EXPERIMENTS, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, RFP are larger aspect ratio devices; they differ by the inclu- OCTOBER 29-30, 1981 sion of helical windings on the OHTE. The FRTP and Spheromak represent the compact tori. For each concept, an advocate spoke for 15 to 20 minutes explaining and INTRODUCTION answering questions. A synopsis of this discussion is given A key next step for fusion development is the achieve- in Table I. We amplify this by considering each concept ment of a "burning," i.e., ignited, fusion plasma. Not only sequentially. will this signal the start of an era of fusion power experi- ments, but it will enable an exhaustive study of the physics RIGGATRON Tokamak of a plasma where fusion product heating dominates. In- deed, there is growing confidence in the fusion community This program is currently funded and under way at that an ignition experiment might be carried out in a device INESCO, Inc., in La Jolla, California. The concept is to of relatively modest size, and at a cost that would be attrac- build an ignition experiment using technology that will tive in the near future. Consequently, the present workshop extrapolate directly into a reactor in the shortest possible was held in conjunction with the 9th Symposium on the time frame. The plan is to build a number of small, high Engineering Problems of Fusion Research [sponsored by field tokamaks to explore the parameter space available the University of Illinois (UI) Fusion Studies Laboratory] to this concept. This is expected to take years and to in order to examine engineering aspects of such an experi- cost^$108. ment in some detail. Three working groups were organized. The RIGGATRON© tokamaks will be designed to Group A was to assess the state-of-the-art in physics and reach ignition temperatures primarily with ohmic heating technology for such experiments; group B was to consider (OH). Hence they will have large values of the ratio B/a special aspects of magnets, materials, and radiation prob- where B is the toroidal field (TF) and A is the aspect ratio. lems involved; and group C was to provide systems aspects Auxiliary heat will be supplied only if necessary in the form plus energy extraction. Summaries of discussions prepared of to 5 MW of ion cyclotron resonance heating and/or by each group follow. plasma compression. Most of the commonly cited plasma scaling laws, e.g., Alcator scaling, Coppi-Mazzucato scaling, or modest enhancements of the ion-neoclassical transport, GROUP A-HEATING/IGNITION AND would predict that ignition could be achieved. Alpha con- INJECTION/BURN CONTROL finement is not expected to be a severe problem since IP > 6 MA. Since (3 ^ 2% at ignition, instabilities are also Introduction not expected to pose serious problems. The goal of discussion group A was to assess the state- These tokamaks would be refueled by gas puffing. of-the-art in physics, engineering, and technology for near- Access is available for pellet injection if this proves de- term ignition experiment concepts. Ignition was defined sirable. There is no room for a divertor, but a first wall, as thermal runaway when Paux = 0. This discussion was which will also serve as the limiter, composed of low-Z limited to small, deuterium-tritium (D-T)-fueled toroidal coatings (probably beryllium or carbon) appears feasible devices with normally conducting magnets, which could to keep impurity concentrations to reasonable levels. Access be constructed for ^$108 in a time span of years. is available for hardened conventional plasma diagnostics. Larger devices with superconducting magnets were ruled Plasma neutrons will also provide a source for diagnostics. out as they are too costly. Many techniques are available to control the postignition The questions addressed were aimed at determining thermal runaway. These include conventional methods such whether there was an adequate basis to achieve ignition. as variable TF ripple, using the beta limit, refueling and The physics questions discussed were heating methods, position control, and impurity injection, and other possi- needed confinement for both the plasma and the fusion bilities, such as variable D-T ratio and radio-frequency products, refueling, burn control, impurity control, and (rf)-induced turbulence. plasma diagnostics. The engineering and technological The main difficulties in performing these ignition difficulties that could impede a successful ignition experi- experiments lie in the technological problems of con- ment were also discussed. structing the magnets and first wall. The stress and thermal- The devices considered were the RIGGATRON© hydraulic problems in the TF and OH magnets and the tokamak, the Ignitor, the Alpha-tor, the Ohmically Heated first wall are severe but appear to be surmountable. Toroidal Experiment (OHTE), reversed field pinch (RFP), In summary, though plasma scaling and "kitchen 433 NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY/FUSION VOL. 2 JULY 1982 aj o g e G C/3 C/3 T£3 —*° CDd <D •s £ cu <D C/5 '> ft JD H *C —f CO £ O 2 1) 3 1-. d) X> S a g cd CO 4 e O tL. 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Impurity control with low-Z walls and magnetic OH, and first-wall structures. limiters is feasible. For burn control, a conventional method such as density control is one option, but a better alter- native may be to use field errors to enhance transport. Ignitor Diagnostics using conventional and neutron detectors are This is the original ignition experiment advocated by planned. B. Coppi that has been supported by Italian government The engineering of the OHTE is relatively straight- agencies. It consists of a relatively small, high field ohm- forward. The modular design concept will allow quick ically heated device that relies on adiabatic major-radius replacement of the core. High magnetic fields are not compression to reach ignition.
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