fusion in europe 2011 september
DESCRIPTION
News & Views on the Progress of Fusion ResearchTRANSCRIPT
EUROPEAN FUSION DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
WE HAVE DONE IT!JET SHUTDOWN COMPLETED
PREPARATIONS FOR ADVANCED FUSION EXPERIMENTS
MAGNETIC PERTURBATIONS
CONNECTING WITH INDUSTRY
2 | 2011
FUSIONQ U A R T E R L Y N E W S & V I E W S O N T H E P R O G R E S S I N F U S I O N R E S E A R C H
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Contents FUSION IN EUROPE№ 2 | 2011
Moving Forward
EFDA
3 Preparations for advanced fusion experiment
4 What does it take to build a fusion power plant?
5 Passing the EIROforum baton
6 A capsule made to hold a sun
Associates
7 Magnetic perturbations
8 Connecting with industry
5 Supporting young scientists
6 Positive predictions for the JET ITER-Like-Wall
JETInsight9 The Joint European Torus
10 We have done it!
11 Close all doors for pump down
Community
People
12 New Chairs appointed
In dialogue
16 Communication is the key
Miscellaneous17 Newsflash
18 JET guestbook
Title pictures: EFDA; Kaare Smith
FUSION IN EUROPE | Contents |
ImprintFUSION IN EUROPE
ISSN 1818-5355
For more information see the websites:
www.efda.org
www.jet.efda.org
EFDA Close Support Unit – Garching
Boltzmannstr. 2
85748 Garching / Munich
Germany
phone: +49-89-3299-4263
fax: +49-89-3299-4197
e-mail: [email protected]
editors: Petra Nieckchen, Christine Rüth
Subscribe at [email protected]
© Francesco Romanelli (EFDA Leader) 2011.This newsletter or parts of it may not be reproducedwithout permission. Text, pictures and layout, ex-cept where noted, courtesy of the EFDA Parties.The EFDA Parties are the European Commissionand the Associates of the European Fusion Pro -gramme which is co-ordinated and managed bythe Commission. Neither the Commission, theAssociates nor anyone acting on their behalf is re-sponsible for any damage resulting from the useof information contained in this publication.
5Passing the EIROforum baton
7Magnetic perturbations
11Close all doors for pump down
5Passing the EIROforum baton
7Magnetic perturbations
11Close all doors for pump down
3
| Moving Forward | EFDA |
The first 40° sector of vacuum vessel was completed in June at JAEA Naka Fusion Institute, JAPAN. (Picture: JT60-SA)
EFDA and Fusion for Energy start a collaboration to prepare for the scientific exploitation of the
Japanese-European experiment JT-60SA
As of May 2011, EFDA, in collaboration withF4E, started preparing the European element ofthe JT-60SA research programme. In May,
EFDA held a meeting in Frascati, Italy, to review theResearch Plan for JT-60SA. In conjunction with theirJapanese colleagues, EFDA has already started workon modelling JT-60SA plasmas thus enabling experi-ments to be planned and further developments to bemade with regard to the operation parameters of themachine.
JT-60SA is an advanced fusion experiment builtby both Japan (JAEA) and Europe (F4E and theEuropean Voluntary Contributors: Belgium, France,Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland). It is part ofthe Japanese-European ‘Broader Approach Agreement’,which is a set of jointly built research facilities designedto complement the ITER experiment. F4E coordinatesthe European contribution to the Broader Approach.The JT-60SA tokamak is similar in size to JET, theworld’s largest magnetic fusion experiment, but unlikeJET it features superconducting magnets. JT-60SA isdesigned to operate in long pulses and at high plasmapressures, both key issues for the design of a demon-
Preparations for advancedfusion experiment
stration fusion power plant. JT-60SA will act as anITER satellite experiment, preparing the regimes of op-eration that will be tested in ITER with production offusion energy at a reactor scale level.
Recently, the F4E Governing Board and theEFDA Steering Committee agreed to involve EFDA inthe preparation of the JT-60SA experimental pro-gramme. The JT-60SA team under F4E concentrateson the technology and engineering tasks associatedwith the construction of the device. EFDA, which al-ready runs a comprehensive physics programme to pre-pare for the ITER experimental phase, will prepare theexploitation of JT-60SA. The first task to be carried outis that of coordinating the review of the JT-60SA re-search plan. By promoting organisation of the Europeanelement of the JT-60SA Physics Unit, EFDA will ensurethe best and widest possible use of JT-60SA byEuropean scientists.
More information:http://tinyurl.com/broaderapproachhttp://www.jt60sa.org/http://fusionforenergy.europa.eu/
FUSION IN EUROPE | Moving Forward | EFDA |
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What does it take to build a fusionpower plant?In May 2011, EFDA welcomed in excess of 70 experts from fusion research, industry and the European
Commission. The meeting was held in Garching and marked the start of pre-conceptual design
studies for a fusion power plant.
“Europe needs to enter into conceptual stud-ies for a demonstration power plant as soonas possible. Other ITER partners have al-
ready established much clearer ideas on what DEMOshould be like.” insisted EFDA Leader FrancescoRomanelli in spring of 2010. Afterapproval was given by the EFDASteering Committee, a Departmentfor Power Plant Physics andTechnology was set up inGarching. Head of DepartmentGianfranco Federici held a work-shop to take stock of the currentstate of knowledge, revisit the con-sidered design choices and to identify the most impor-tant open issues as well as to review the R&D strategiesnecessary to resolve these issues. “We must take on amore system-oriented and integrated approach insteadof concentrating on detailed component design” con-
cluded Federici. Tasks were launched in several areas,like, for instance, the assessment of the system code forfusion reactor models and the relevant physics input,the strategy on divertor R&D and the assessment of theengineering material database. Former EFDA Leader,
Karl Lackner of IPP,referred to the chal-lenges: “In a systembased on voluntarycontributions, it isvery difficult to en-sure that not onlythe most interesting,but also the less re-
warding issues are taken care of. These are just as im-portant for the overall success of the project.” The nextmeeting to review the results of the launched assess-ments is scheduled to be held before the end of theyear.
DEMO succeeds ITER and its purpose is to developand test technologies, physics regimes and controlroutines necessary in order to operate a fusion re-actor as a power plant and not just as a scientificexperiment. One of the key criteria for DEMO isthe production of electricity (albeit not at the priceand the quantities of commercial power plants).
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| Moving Forward | EFDA |
PASSING THEEIROforum BATON
First commercial power plant may beready to operate by 2050. “Ideally we wouldstart constructing DEMO in 2030 and have it up andrunning in 2040. This is a very ambitious goal. It wouldthen be possible to implement operation of a commer-cial power plant by 2050” estimated Serge Paidassi, arepresentative of the European Commission. In orderto realise this aim, Europe should invest around 100million euros within the upcoming eighth researchFramework Programme, reasoned Derek Stork ofCCFE. Stork is a former member of the previousEFDA/F4E DEMO working group, which ultimatelyled to the establishment of the current project. Findinga solution for the divertor is one of the biggest hurdlesto be overcome. “It is extremely difficult to combinethe plasma world, which has tens of thousands of de-grees Celsius at the plasma edge, with the materialworld, which operates, at the highest, in the 1000 de-grees Celsius range”, explained Lackner. Tritium breed-ing technologies, on the other hand, whilst critical, areperceived to be more soluble within the present know -ledge base. “The blanket is complicated,” said Stork,“but not much more complicated than the core of afission reactor. Solving the blanket problem is primarilya question of applying proper resources to the pro-gramme.”
Early links to industry are important. “If youdo not involve industry early enough in the processyou may develop concepts, ideas, and designs that arenot fit for industrial realisation.” Paidassi welcomedthe participation of several industrial partners, amongthem, the Thales group, Siemens, Ansaldo and Areva.Areva was represented by the Scientific Vice PresidentPhilippe Garderet who also chairs the European FusionIndustry Innovation Forum. Driving innovation is onereason for the industry to closely follow fusion research,pointed out Siemens Corporate Technologies represen-tative Hubertus von Dewitz: “Many technologies cur-rently being developed for fusion are of great interestto other industrial segments. I am specifically thinkingof high temperature superconductivity for energy stor-age systems, smart generators and motors as well asfor medical diagnostics. In addition, high temperaturematerials generate considerable interest in numerousapplications, e.g. gas turbines.”
Contact: Gianfranco Federici, [email protected]
On 1 July, the EIROforum Chairmanship passes fromEFDA-JET to CERN for the duration of the next one-year term. Chairman Francesco Romanelli and his teamare able to look back on a highly successful Chairman -ship, the second since EIROforum was established.Highlights included the accession of the European XFELFree-Electron Laser Facility to become the eighth mem-ber of the partnership and preparations for the imple-mentation of the Statement of Intent between theEuropean Commission and EIROforum. Two sciencepolicy papers were published – one on the 8th re searchFramework Programme and one as a response to theCommission’s Green Paper on the future of EU Researchand Innovation funding. During the last twelve months,EIROforum has participated in a number of events andmeetings, including the European Union Contest forYoung Scientists in Lisbon, the Science on Stage Festivalin Copenhagen and the European Careers Fair at theMIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The internal activities of EIROforum are largely con-
ducted by a number of thematic working groups, withseveral groups developing ambitious plans for the future.A number of initiatives relate to the training of youngscientists and engineers. Furthermore, at the EIROforumSpring Assembly, held in Brussels in May, a new thematicworking group on the subjects of Innovation Ma nage -ment and Knowledge/Technology Transfer was estab-lished, underscoring the great potential of the EIRO -forum partner organisations in contributing towardsimproving Europe’s innovative capabilities.
Claus Madsen, EFDA
EIROforum is a collaboration between eight Europeanintergovernmental scientific research organisations:http://www.eiroforum.org/
EFDA Leader Francesco Romanelli passes the Green Paper response to Research CommissareMáire Geoghegan-Quinn.
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FUSION IN EUROPE | Moving Forward | EFDA |
A capsule made to hold a sunMaterials science, along with plasma research, plays an essential role in the development of fusionpower plants. The strength of the reactor wall limits the power of the plasma and thus the possiblephysics regimes. Frequently replacing damaged wall elements is not a viable economical option. New,advanced materials must be developed in order to implement the plasma power levels required by fu-sion energy. EFDA supports the process of materials research for ITER and tackles many long-term is-sues, such as, design studies for power plants.
The challenge. The core of a fusion plasma is hot-ter than 100 million degrees Celsius. It exhausts ex-tremely large heat and particle fluxes. At some placeson the vessel wall, for instance, at the divertor, temper-atures can reach well in excess of 1000 degrees Celsius.Under certain plasma conditions, bursts with evengreater power can also occur. Neutrons with unprece-dented energy levels damage the crystal structure of thewall material and activate it. Moreover, fusion powerplants will be burning tritium-deuterium plasmas, andsome of the radioactive tritium may be deposited intothe wall. Dust and debris from the wall surface build upin the plasma. Their atoms absorb energy and thus re-duce plasma performance. This effect is worst for ele-ments with high atomic numbers. Most of today’s fusionexperiments use steel walls lined with replaceable car-bon tiles. The steel wall of a power plant will be watercooled and lined with thick, water cooled, steel blanketsprotected by removable first wall panels. Even then,standard steels may be weakened if they absorb exces-sive amounts of heat and fast neutrons.
The options. The protective wall panels must with-stand the plasma, but wall debris may not affect theplasma: Carbon is an extremely heat resistant material,the light atoms do not harm plasma performance, but itnevertheless provides an ideal nesting place for tritium.
Tungsten is a metal with a very high melting point, andshows a low affinity for tritium but as a result of itshigh atomic number its debris may not be permitted toenter the plasma. Beryllium is a very light metal whichdoes not absorb tritium and it is sufficiently heat resist-ant to be used for those parts of the wall that do notcome into contact with plasma. Its dust, however, ishighly toxic and requires careful handling. ASDEXUpgrade is the first tokamak that operates successfullywith a tungsten wall. With its newly installed ITER-Like-Wall, JET will be the only experiment to gatherexpertise with a wall made of beryllium and tungstenprior to ITER.
New materials. Alongside looking into existingoptions, new materials are also being developed. Silicon-carbides, special alloys and liquid metal wall conceptsare potential solutions to the plasma facing componentproblem. Low activation and highly heat resistant steelsare being developed for the vessel structure. All materialsmust be capable of production in sufficient quantitiesand be tested under fusion reactor conditions. Creatingthese conditions is a challenge: Intensive investigationsare underway regarding the viability of an intense highenergy neutron source, referred to as InternationalFusion Materials Facility, which will be built in parallelwith ITER.
Spherical steel powder for EUROFER Steels (Image: KIT)
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Experiments at ASDEX Upgrade indicate
that with eight newly fitted magnetic
control coils, the strength of
plasma edge instabilities, so
called ELMs, can be signifi-
cantly reduced.
Magnetic ELM suppression
was first observed at the
DIII-D tokamak in San
Diego, USA. The ASDEX
Up grade experiments en-
hance the understanding of
the physics behind the process
and will help to extrapolate the results
to ITER. The project was partly funded by EFDA
under priority support.
Magnetic perturbations
Full set of magnetic perturbation coils at ASDEX Upgrade. The eight red coils are already inoperation. (Image: IPP)
Edge Localised Modes, or ELMs, are one of the bigheadaches posed by fusion physics: They cause suddenoutbursts of the plasma thus expelling particles and de-positing large heat flux onto the vessel wall. The plasmaloses severe amounts of energy. In high-power fusiondevices such as ITER, ELMs pose a serious risk to thewall and will probably need to be mitigated or sup-pressed. On the other hand, the less violent ELMs alsoserve to purge the plasma of impurities. These are rele-vant to ASDEX Upgrade with its tungsten-lined wallsince tungsten atoms cause considerable energy lossesif they penetrate the plasma centre. The vessel has beenequipped with eight magnetic coils along the insidewall, four at the top and four at the bottom. They per-turb the magnetic field which confines the plasma. Inrecent experiments, started in December 2010, the op-eration of the coils successfully mitigated ELMs in cer-tain plasma regimes by converting large ELMs intoharmless, but frequent, bursts. At the same time, theimpurity content remained low and good plasma con-finement was also maintained.
In 1998 and 2004, respectively, COMPASS-D(Culham, U.K.) and DIII-D (San Diego, U.S.A.) werethe first experiments to report ELM mitigation using
magnetic perturbations. The exact stabilisation mecha-nism, however, is not yet understood: The plasma resiststhe magnetic perturbations induced by the coils andthus far, no theory has been developed which is able toaccurately predict the effects of the net magnetic fieldthat penetrates the confined plasma. The current ex-periments being carried out at ASDEX Upgrade alsoshow that ELMs can only be mitigated in certainplasma parameter ranges. For example, the effect couldnot be produced below a certain plasma density.Comparing previous observations with the new meas-urements from ASDEX Upgrade should now enhancethe understanding of the physics and will help to es-tablish a theory about this phenomenon. AroundAugust 2011, another eight coils will be installed atASDEX Upgrade, resulting in a total of eight coils atthe top and eight at the bottom of the inside wall. Thisextension will allow the field strength of the inducedmagnetic perturbations to be increased and ensure evenmore accurate definition of their spatial structure.
Contact:Wolfgang Suttrop, [email protected] et al, Physical Review Letters 106 (2011) 225004
| Moving Forward | Associates |
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Connecting with industry
Fusion meetselectronicsThe Czech Associate IPP.CR participated in the19th international trade fair of electrotechnicsAMPER 2011. 580 exhibitors from 21 nationsmet in March in Brno in the Czech Republic.IPP.CR exhibited a spare vacuum vessel segmentof the COMPASS tokamak, along with severalprobes and information materials. An infinite loopof 140 images from the ITER construction ac-companied the exhibit, which stimulated manyquestions regarding fusion. Most people asked:“What is the status of the ITER tokamak?”
On the very first day of the event, the IPP.CRstall was selected for the purpose of a live internetbroadcast. Three technology magazines, whichwere distributed at the fair, contained articleswritten by IPP.CR about fusion energy andCompass. At the national conference, ‘Energy forthe future – Photovoltaic electric energy sources’,which was held within the framework of the AM-PER trade fair, IPP.CR was invited to talk about‘Fusion today and tomorrow’.
The fusion lecture was so popular that itwas subsequently invited to take part in theInternational Conference ‘Sources of RenewableEnergy’ which was held one week later in theCzech Republic. Due to its success at AMPER2011, it was even assigned a 45 minute timeslot,more than twice the slot assigned to the othertalks.
Milan Ripa, IPP.CR
FUSION IN EUROPE | Moving Forward | Associates |
Big Science means bigbusinessEFDA Associate Risø DTU invited Danish industry tomeet with four of the biggest research projects in Europe.ITER was one of them.
The Danish Big Science Industry Day was held in May at RisøDTU and drew about 80 delegates from the Danish industry.With this initiative, DTU and their partners in the Big ScienceSecretariat project aimed to support Danish companies in se-curing a share of the investments made by major research proj-ects. "The self-perception of many small and medium-sized com-panies prevents them from becoming big science projectsuppliers" explains Søren Bang Korsholm, Senior Scientist atRisø DTU and project Head for the Big Science Secretariat.
CERN, ESO (European Southern Observatory), ESS(European Spallation Source) and F4E alone, plan to awardcontracts worth a total of ten billion euros between now and2020. All of these institutions sent senior representatives to theevent: ESS Director General Colin Carlile, Philippe Corréa,Advisor to the Director of F4E, Alistair McPherson, Head ofthe ESO European Extremely Large Telescope and AndersUnnervik, Head of CERN Procurement and Industrial Services.Industry was represented by both small specialist companiesand heavyweights like MT Højgaard, DSV Air & Sea, andGrundfos.
The Big Science Secretariat is designed to bring togetherDanish companies, research institutions and major internationalresearch facilities. It is supported by the Danish Council forTechnology and Innovation and by the partners Risø DTU,Danish Technological Institute and FORCE Technology, as wellas by the participating companies.
Contact and more information:Juliette Forneris, Risø [email protected], http://www.bigscience.dk
Image: IPP.CR
Image: Kaare Smith
| JETInsight |
EFDA provides the work platform to exploit JET in
an efficient and focused way. More than 40 Euro -
pean fusion laboratories collectively contribute to
the JET scientific programme and develop the
hardware of the machine further. The tokamak is
located at the Culham Science Centre near Oxford
in the UK. It is funded by EURATOM, by the Euro -
pean Associates, and by UK’s fusion Associate, the
Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) as host.
CCFE operates the JET facilities including carrying
out the maintenance and refurbishment work re-
quired to realise the given scientific goals.
THE JOINT EUROPEAN TORUS, JETEurope’s largest fusion device
The JET vessel in May 2011, featuring the complete ITER-Like Wall (Picture: EFDA)
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FUSION IN EUROPE | JETInsight |
On 13 May, more than 300 people gathered tocelebrate the successful completion of the JETshutdown. Since October 2009, the robot arms
of the remote handling unit changed about 86,000 com-ponents inside the JET torus. It was the biggest shut-down in JET’s 28-year long history.
First of all, EFDA would like to take this opportunity tothank the JET operator who has dealt with this shutdownin a dedicated manner, combining detailed planning and
an ability to react in a flexible way to changing circumstanceswith a lot of hard work. In addition, EFDA also thanks all theFusion Associates that have actively participated in the variousenhancement projects. The JET Team has already started re-ceiving congratulations and compliments from colleagues inthe fusion community for achieving this milestone.
“I would certainly like to add my own personal thanksand congratulations to the entire shutdown team.”Lorne Horton, Head of the EFDA JET Department
JET is now a new machine, a small ITER. With the nextgeneration of JET experiments, the fusion communityintends to prepare the ITER operational regimes 10 yearsin advance. The results of these experiments will makethe operation of ITER easier and also help to make ITERa success.
E F D A T H A N K S A L L C O N T R I B U T O R S
WE HAVE DONE I T !
View 18 months worth of intense shutdown work in five minutes: http://tinyurl.com/shutdownmovie
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| JETInsight |
At JET, operators,
scientists and engineers
are busy pre paring
the machine for the
first experiments
after the 18-month
shutdown.
Close all doors for pump down
With the end of the shutdown, the main portdoors of JET were closed and sealed. On18 May, after some final installations and
checks, various pumps were started up. All 200 cubicmetres of air were removed from the torus. As soon asthey reached high vacuum, the entire assembly was testedfor leaks. In order to evaporate any residual humidity,the torus was baked for about five days at 200 degreesCelsius. Heating the JET torus is quite an undertaking:Hot gas is blown between its inner and outer walls. Partswhich cannot be accessed this way, for instance theports, are heated electrically via cables welded ontothem. Even as we write, the machine is being preparedfor a second, harder bake at a temperature of 320 degreesCelsius and with a duration of four weeks. During thisbaking process, an ionized hydrogen gas is generated inthe vacuum chamber. The gas reacts with the oxygenatoms adsorbed in the wall and thus cleans the vessel.
Getting the equipment ready. All large sub-sys-tems, most of which have been extensively upgraded, arethen made ready for operation. Among them are powersupplies for the coils and the plasma heating systems, theventilation systems for the torus hall and basement, andthe cryogenic plant. The latter will soon be routinely pro-ducing one tonne of liquid helium per day. The powersupplies for the magnet coils deliver high current at ahigh voltage, and their commissioning requires complexchecks of the protection system. Hundreds of sensorsmonitor the conditions around the machine and feed intothe main control or Central Interlock and Safety System
(CISS) which protects JET. The functionality of the sen-sors, the correct transmission of their signals to sub-con-trol units and finally to the CISS have been checkedalong with the CISS programmes. In addition, approxi-mately 2,000 control cubicles, each containing ten to50 electronic instruments, monitor and operate JET’s sub-systems such as the various heating units. All of thesehave been tested and, if necessary, repaired.
A final inspection. At the time of writing this arti-cle, the coils had just been re-connected to the powersupplies. Prior to this step, JET had undergone a final,thorough inspection. About 20 people who know JETwell spent an entire afternoon hunting for faults andchecking whether all of the issues raised during priorinspections, had been solved satisfactorily.
Starting the machine. In September, the first ex-perimental phase with the ITER-Like-Wall will start.For four months, JET will be operated and commis-sioned step-by-step – much like one would run-in anew car engine. After the basic commissioning of thecontrol and protection systems, the first experimentswill be conducted without any external heating, prima-rily to check the behaviour of the new wall. The secondstage of commissioning and a second round of experi-ments are set to follow, during which the heat will grad-ually be turned on. And finally, JET will be ready forfull power operation.
Nick Balshaw, CCFE, Christine Rüth
More information: http://tinyurl.com/jet-in-close-up
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FUSION IN EUROPE | Community | People |
After completing her Master in Physics at the University of Turin, Gloria Falchetto obtainedher PhD in 2002 at the Swiss Research Centre on Plasma Physics (CRPP) of the Ecole PolytechniqueFederale de Lausanne. Between 2002 and 2004 she was a post-doctorate at CEA Cadarache fusion de-partment, now called Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion Magnétique, where she has held a permanentposition since 2005 in the Transport, Turbulence and MHD group. She currently works on fluid turbu-lence simulations and interpretative modelling of density fluctuation measurements. Dr Falchetto hasbeen contributing to the EFDA Integrated Tokamak Modelling (ITM) Task Force since 2005 as amember of the turbulence and microstability Integrated Modelling Project, of which she became DeputyProject Leader in 2007. In 2009, she was appointed Deputy Leader of the ITM Task Force and Leaderad interim in 2010.
During a meeting which took place in October 2010 in Lisbon,the EFDA Steering Committee appointed new Leaders andChairs for the majority of Task Forces and Topical Groups.
Here we introduce the Leaders of the Plasma Wall Interactionand Integrated Tokamak Modelling Task Forces.
“I am confident that the ITM Task Force effort to coor-dinate the outstanding European numerical develop-ments on Integrated Tokamak Modelling contributes tothe European scientific excellence both in terms of pro-viding a standardised, flexible and solid simulation in-frastructure and in promoting effective pan-Europeancollaborations. I had the opportunity to take the leadad interim of the ITM Task Force when it started pro-ducing integrated tools for scientific exploitation onactual experiments and I trust it will head towards de-livery of a valuable simulator for ITER.”
New Chairs appointed
An electron temperature solution in the Scrape-Off Layer computed by SOLPS andvisualized in the ASDEX Upgrade device geometry (Image: H.-J. Klingshirn, IPP)
Interim Leader
Integrated Tokamak ModellingTask Force
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| Community | People |
Rui Coelho obtained his PhD at UniversidadeTécnica de Lisboa in collaboration with the Istituto diFisica del Plasma – CNR Milano in 2001. His researchwas dedicated to the non-linear coupling between tearingmodes and interaction with resonant magnetic perturba-tions and their impact on the seeding of neoclassical tearingmodes. He then completed a one year post-doctorate ontheoretical aspects on the feedback vertical stabilisation ofelongated plasmas at the Politecnico di Torino. Since 2005,Dr Coelho has been a researcher at the Instituto de Plasmase Fusão Nuclear/Insti tuto Superior Técnico, Portugal. Hiswork primarily addresses the theoretical study of plasmainstabilities, in particular the seeding, sheared flow effectand feedback stabilisation of neoclassical tearing modesand also the real-time processing of fusion plasma diag-nostic data. Since 2008, he has been Deputy Leader of theEFDA ITM Task Force and is in charge of the coordinationof the Experimentalists and Dia gnos ti cians ResourceGroup.
“In view of modelling ITER andother device discharges, the ITMTask Force plays a crucial role inthe modelling effort that EFDApursues. It consolidates a softwareinfrastructure where state-of-the-art codes from all European part-ners, and comprising all majortokamak physics, come togetherbuilding true capacity for wholedevice modelling.”
Deputy Leaders
David Coster is the Group Leader for Edge Physicsin the Division of Tokamak Physics, one of the two theorydivisions at IPP Garching. He earned his PhD in plasmaphysics from Princeton University in 1993. He is the ProjectLeader for Integrated Modelling Project 3 (Core and EdgeTransport) within the EFDA ITM Task Force. As well asbeing a Deputy Task Force Leader, Dr Coster was thedeputy coordinator of the seventh European FrameworkProgramme (FP7) project EUFORIA and is also involvedin the FP7 project MAPPER. SOLPS, the edge modellingcode he maintains and co-develops, is in use in variouslaboratories in Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia, China, Indiaand the USA, as well as at ITER.
“Modern science rests on a triad of experiment, theory and modelling. Theory can explain indi-vidual pieces of the picture, but to combine the pieces to explain and predict the jigsaw that isthe experiment, one often requires extensive computer simulations. These simulations havemoved on from exploring single physics, single time- and space-scale phenomena to examiningmulti-physics, multi time- and space-scale phenomena. The Integrated Tokamak Modelling TaskForce aims to provide an environment where many tokamak physics codes can be integrated sothat new physics issues can be explored - on present experiments, on ITER and beyond.”
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FUSION IN EUROPE | Community | People |
Karl Krieger received his PhD in 1990 from the Munich Technical University, with a dissertationon impurity transport studies in the tokamak ASDEX. Since 1991 he has held a permanent researchposition at IPP Garching, working on plasma-wall interactions and impurity migration. In addition toexperiments at ASDEX Upgrade and participation in the JET programme, he has designed and com-missioned a dual-ion beam experiment for plasma-wall interactions studies. Alongside his research ac-tivities, Dr Krieger also organised the IPP Summer University for Plasma Physics and Nuclear Fusionup until 2010. From 2009 to 2010, he coordinated EFDA Plasma Wall Interaction (PWI) studies onmixed material effects as Leader of the relevant special expert working group. He was subsequently ap-pointed as Leader of the EFDA PWI Task Force.
“The design challenges for fusion devices the size of ITER andbeyond have led to the recognition of power exhaust and corre-sponding plasma-wall interactions as key issues for the successof nuclear fusion. Europe's leading role in this field is, to alarge extent, a result of successful collaboration. The PlasmaWall Interaction Task Force provides a framework for the par-ticipating partners to organise and further develop their coop-erative efforts. It also brings together experts to promote the ex-change of ideas and to shape a research programme, whichmakes optimal use of the available resources.”
Wolfram element after several melting processes (Image: FZJ)
Leader
Wojciech Fundamenski received his PhD fromthe Institute of Aerospace studies at the University of Toronto.In 1999, he joined the scientific team at JET where he pursuedresearch in edge plasma physics and particle/power exhaust.Since 2004, he has headed the JET Task Force for ExhaustPhysics, first as a Deputy Leader (2004-2007), then as Leader(2007-2010). Dr Fundamenski is currently a tokamak scienceprogramme area Leader for scrape-off layer and divertorphysics at the CCFE, where he also leads a plasma exhausttheory and modelling group. He is the author of "PowerExhaust in Fusion Plasmas" (Cambridge, 2009), a visitingprofessor in plasma physics at Imperial College, London, anda fellow of the Institute of Physics.
“The exhaust of particles and power from a burning plasma is one of the key challenges onthe road to commercialisation of fusion energy. The solution of this problem is the main focusof the EFDA Plasma Wall Interaction Task Force.”
Plasma Wall Interaction Task Force
Deputy Leaders
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| Community | People |
Marek Rubel obtained his PhD in 1983 at theWarsaw University of Technology for his studies of surface
physics and the interaction of low temperature plasma
with materials. He subsequently joined the Swedish
Manne Siegbahn Institute of Physics and worked at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Dr
Rubel is an Associate Professor at the Alfvén Laboratory
of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm.
His scientific interests lie in plasma-wall interactions, the
development of plasma-facing materials and diagnostic
techniques. He has a broad cooperation network with
major fusion plasma physics and material science labo-
ratories in Europe, Japan and the USA. Marek Rubel is
author/co-author of over 180 papers published in inter-
national journals. He is committee member of five inter-
national conference series and project evaluator for sev-
eral funding agencies. Since 2007, he has been a member
of the Technical Advisory Panel at Fusion for Energy
and, as of 2010, has also been Deputy Leader of the
EFDA PWI Task Force.
“The role of the Task Force is to inte-grate our research community and topromote projects which improve the un-derstanding of PWI processes and, as aresult, the technology of plasma-facingmaterials and components. It is also im-portant to establish new co-operationsto broaden expertise which eventuallybrings benefits to all involved parties.”
Sebastijan Brezinsek is Deputy Task ForceLeader in the JET Task E2 with the ITER-Like-Wall. He
earned a PhD in plasma physics in 2002 from Heinrich-
Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany. He subsequently
joined Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) as the scientist
responsible for passive spectroscopy. He participated in
and led several PWI experiments at JET, DIII-D, Tore
Supra and ASDEX Upgrade and became the Leader of
the EFDA Task Force PWI special expert working group
for chemical erosion and transport. He is co-project
Leader for the spectroscopy upgrade project for the ITER-
Like-Wall at JET and was appointed Deputy Leader of
the Plasma Wall Interactions Group at FZJ. In July 2007,
he became Deputy Task Force Leader for JET Task Force
Exhaust. Dr Brezinsek is a member of the international
programme committee for several PWI related confer-
ences and teaches plasma physics at the University of
Duisburg-Essen, Germany. In 2010, he was appointed
Deputy Leader of the EFDA PWI Task Force.
“With the ITER-Like-Wall at JET start-ing operation, one of the key issues ofour Task Force is to bring together PWIactivities in the Associations related tometallic plasma-facing components andexploitation of the ITER-Like-Wall. Ofparticular interest are material migra-tion, fuel retention and fuel removal.Our aim is to maximise the outcome ofEuropean PWI research for a successfuland safe operation of ITER.”
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FUSION IN EUROPE | Community | In dialogue |
fusion Associations in Europe to prepare the ITER ex-ploitation and lay the foundations for a fusion powerplant.” This path, Romanelli explained further, will ulti-mately lead to the design of a Demonstration Reactor(DEMO). Initial design activities recently started at theEFDA worksite in Garching, Germany.
Besides exchanging the latest news from their in-stitutions and the ITER project and discussing a futurecommunication strategy in a Europe that has, at leastpartly, changed its perception of nuclear energy, PINinvited two guest speakers for added inspiration.
James Gillies, Head of communication at CERN,reported on the months that preceded and followed thestart of the LHC, and the subsequent quench of one of
its magnets. “Now,” Gillies said, quotingBertold Brecht, “the troubles of the mountainslie behind us. Before us lie the troubles of theplanes.” The next challenge after the mediahype will be to maintain interest in the proj-ect.
The second invited guest speaker to thePIN meeting was Claus Madsen, former com-munication Head at the European SouthernObservatory and now advisor to the EFDALeader. He chose a slightly modified Hamletquote, “To Communicate or Not to Be,” as thetitle for his talk about the new world of tech-nology-driven communication. Modern com-munication tools like blogs, Twitter, Facebook,and YouTube have dramatically changed themedia and its pace. “Which doesn't mean thatit is now easier to get your message across,”Madsen stressed. “Everybody shouts, but wholistens?”
Sabina Griffith, ITER Organization
The PIG is dead,long live the PIN.
Babe the pig is stretched outflat in a large steel casse-role, smothered in gravy and
vegetables. A flag with three initialsis sticking out of its roasted shoulder in-dicating a new dawn for the 27 assembled communi-cation officers from fusion labs within Europe, formerlyknown as the EFDA Public Information Group (PIG).
Finding a less omnivorous name for the group, nowcalled the Public Information Network, was somethingof a personal matter for Petra Nieckchen, the new Headof Public Information within EFDA. The PIN membersconvened in June 2011 for their annual gathering todiscuss means and strategies for promoting potentialuses of fusion energy. IPP in Greifswald, where thelatest newcomer to the international stellarator family,Wendelstein 7-X, is currently being assembled, playedhost to the event.
The meeting was opened by EFDA Leader FrancescoRomanelli, speaking from JET via webcam. “EFDA,”he said, “should act as a catalyst between the different
Picture Ralph P. Schorn
Communication is the key
Picture: Anja Richter Ullmann, IPP
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| NewsFlash |
NEWSFLASHMathematics meets pump engineering
In May near Karlsruhe, about 60 vacuum experts, pump industry members and mathematicians discussedinnovative methods intended to ease the design of pumps for fusion devices.
In a fusion device, the divertor pumps must be able to create a high vacuum and exhaust the helium ash which is a product offusion reactions. Due to the high gas throughputs, these pumps are typically operated in the transitional flow regime. In this regime,the description of gas behaviour is rather complex and requires special mathematical methods. Although, great progress has beenmade in the last decade in the development and testing of these methods, the use of such to solve real engineering problems is stillin its infancy.
For the first time, the workshop brought together engineers from the application side and gas dynamics simulation experts,among them world-leading scientists in their area. It was organised by Christian Day from KIT, Felix Sharipov, University Parana,Brazil and Oleg Malyshev, Science & Technology Facilities Council, UK. The meeting also successfully connected science with thevacuum industry, whose members made up about 20 percent of the attendants. One of the immediate outcomes was the initiativeto set up a school on the subject of vacuum gas dynamics.
A success on its own was the fact that one third of the workshop attendants were young researchers. Moving us one morestep closer to creating the ITER generation.
Christian Day, KIThttp://www.itep.kit.edu/VGD-2011
Fusion Wiki
Boudewijn van Milligen, a fusion researcher at CIEMAT, has established a wiki for the fusion community. It is designed to act as acentral and reliable indexing site with up-to-date links for fusion and plasma physics. The wiki includes upcoming conferences andmeetings, databases, fusion institutions, main publications and job opportunities. All scientists, engineers, and students involved infusion are invited to contribute to the wiki pages. It also includes definitions or descriptions of plasma physics terms, concepts, researchareas and scientific results. Controversial definitions or descriptions can be discussed and clarified using the talk pages.
[email protected]://tinyurl.com/fusion-wiki-ciemat
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FUSION IN EUROPE | NewsFlash |
NEWSFLASH
JETGUESTbOOKSome of the nearly 800 persons who paid a visit to CCFE and JET in this quarter:
� Three film teams recorded footage of the machine.
� Journalists from the UK, Germany, China and Poland came to learn about fusion energy and JET.
� Representatives of the British Science & Technology Facilities Council visited for discussions.
� 40 members of the British Nuclear Institute came for an all-day conference at the site.
� 25 of the best science students from Danish high schools visited during the course of a master class on fusion physics.
EFDA Associate EFDA Associate Risø DTU collaborated on the project.
� More than 270 students, along with their teachers, attended tours of the facilities.
� 26 trainee physics teachers came to learn more about fusion.
Happy Birthday to Science in School!
EIROforum’s quarterly magazine, which encourages communi-cation between teachers and scientists, was launched five yearsago. Since then, it has published 350 articles on topics rangingfrom particle physics to biodiversity or earthquakes. Togetherwith the associated translations, more than 1,100 articles pub-lished in 28 European languages have been accumulated onScience in School’s website. They contain teaching materials,science education projects or cutting edge scientific information.The service is very popular, every month, the website receives30,000 visitors and 15,000 copies of each print issue are distrib-uted across Europe. EFDA Leader Francesco Romanelli andChairman of EIROforum until the end of June 2011, emphasisedthe importance of science education and the vital role that teachersplay in this process: “We are proud to support them with Sciencein School”.
www.scienceinschool.org
Where is Fusion Expo?17-23 November 2011:Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
http://www.fusion-expo.eu/Contact: Tomaz Skobe, [email protected] travelling exhibition financed by EFDA.
28 European countries signed an agreement to work on an energy source for the future:EFDA provides the framework, JET, the Joint European Torus, is the shared experiment, fusion energy is the goal.
Austrian Academy of SciencesAUS TR I A
Association EURATOM –University of Latvia
L AT V I ALithuanian Energy Institute
L I THUAN I A
Ministry of Education and Research ROMAN IA
Ministry of Higher Education, Scienceand TechnologyS LOVEN I A
Centro de Investigaciones EnergéticasMedioambientales y Tecnológicas
SPA IN
Swedish Research CouncilSWEDEN
Centre de Recherches en Physiquedes Plasmas
SW I T Z ER L AND
FOM – Foundation for FundamentalResearch on Matter
THE N E THER LANDS UN I T ED K I NGDOM
EURATOM Hellenic RepublicGRE E C E
Hungarian Academy of SciencesHUNGARY
F4E , SPA INFRANC E
Dublin UniversityI R E L AND
Agenzia nazionale per le nuovetecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo
economico sostenibileI TA LY
University of TartuE S TON I A
Finnish Funding Agency for Technologyand InnovationF I N L AND
Commissariat a l’Energie AtomiqueFRANC E GERMANY GERMANY
Max-Planck-Institut für PlasmaphysikGERMANY
BE LG IUMBulgarian Academy of Sciences
BULGAR I AUniversity of Cyprus
C YPRUS
Institute of Plasma PhysicsAcademy of Sciences of the
Czech RepublicC Z E CH R EPUBL I C D ENMARK
University of MaltaMALTA
Institute of Plasma Physicsand Laser Microfusion
POLANDMinistère de l’Energie
LUX EMBURG
Instituto Superior TécnicoPORTUGAL
Comenius UniversityS LOVAK I A
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EUROPEAN FUSION DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT ISSN 1818-5355