Projects

Projects: Projects for Investigator

The purpose of international fusion research is to harness the process that heats the sun and other stars, to develop a new, large scale, carbon-free energy source without security of supply or major long-term waste problems. The most developed approach uses strong magnetic fields to keep the very hot, ionised gas (plasma) away from material surfaces. The main challenges are to minimise energy losses from the plasma, keep it stable and handle its high exhaust power, and to develop reliable materials and components that can withstand years of high power fluxes of heat and the very hot neutrons created by fusion which will be the heat source for electricity generation. The 2010-2016 EPSRC-supported magnetic fusion research programme at CCFE (also funded by EURATOM) will respond to the findings of the 2009 RCUK review of UK fusion research strategy. This emphasised the need to shift gradually the balance of research from physics to technology, with the long-term aim to position UK industry to be a major player when fusion power stations are built. The RCUKs Fusion Advisory Board has endorsed the main thrusts of this forward programme. The grant will cover UK funding for the Joint European Torus (JET) at CCFE, presently the worlds leading fusion experiment. In the 2010s, JET will be superseded by ITER, the international device under construction in France. The centrepiece of the UK programme is MAST. A major 30M upgrade will be implemented during the grant period, to enable higher power, longer pulse experiments with even hotter plasmas (around 50 million degrees). MAST is a spherical tokamak, a concept pioneered at CCFE with a tighter design of magnetic bottle than conventional tokamaks like JET and ITER. The main aims of MAST experiments are to (a) determine whether the ST would be a suitable basis for a compact device to test components for future fusion power stations, and (b) improve tokamak physics understanding to help optimise exploitation of ITER. Aside from upgrading MAST, the main strands of the programme are as follows (all involve considerable collaboration with UK universities and overseas organisations):

1. Experiments on MAST, and related theory and modelling, on the stability, confinement, exhaust, start-up and sustainment aspects of tokamak plasmas
2. Participation, with other European fusion scientists, in the JET programme, concentrating on assessing of the effect of JETs new metal plasma-facing wall on plasma performance and the implications for ITER. In around 2015 there will be experiments using the fusion fuel(a mixture of deuterium and tritium) - JET is the only machine that can use tritium
3. Improving structural and plasma-facing materials for fusion power stations through theory and modelling (tested against experiments in UK universities) and assessments of the performance of tungsten and beryllium in the new JET wall
4. Designing specialist heating and measurement technologies for ITER, and facilitating the involvement of UK industry in the procurement of these and other ITER systems
5. Gradually moving from ITER technologies to those needed for a demonstration fusion power station to follow ITER, contributing to joint European design studies - some of this work will assist the less-developed laser-based inertial approach to fusion power stations, studied at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, which would need similar neutron-capture and high heat flux technologies
6. To help all of the above, tapping relevant UK university expertise in plasma and materials sciences and technology, with student training in many disciplines.