SKM 2021 – scientific programme

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AKE: Arbeitskreis Energie

AKE 4: Herausforderungen bei nuklearen Energietechnologien

AKE 4.2: Invited Talk

Tuesday, September 28, 2021, 14:00–14:30, H8

Nuclear fusion on the way to ITER and beyond — •Thomas Pütterich and the ASDEX Upgrade Team — Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching, Germany

One of the paths to achieving nuclear fusion on earth is the confinement of hot plasma in a magnetic device, called tokamak. In the largest one, ITER, which is currently being built in the south of France, a burning deuterium-tritium plasma will require core ion temperaturesabove 10 keV (100 Mio °C) at densities around 10^20 m^-3. In the core of a tokamak plasma turbulence is the dominant transport mechanism limiting the temperature gradient length. Therefore, the plasma edge acts as boundary condition to the core, and its temperature value is a crucial quantity which determines the performance of a tokamak plasma. In steady state conditions, all heat, that is deposited or produced in the centre, is transported across the plasma edge towards the wall. It is therefore crucial to taylor the plasma edge in a way to provide conditions for safe operation without damaging the plasma facing components. In this talk the most important ingredients of the physical properties of the tokamak plasma will be explained. The status of knowledge will be shown together with possible options for the operation in ITER, and the path to a demonstration power plant is illustrated.