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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
A. Ekedahl, M. Goniche, D. Guilhem, F. Kazarian, Y. Peysson, Tore Supra Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 56 | Number 3 | October 2009 | Pages 1150-1172
Technical Papers | Tore Supra Special Issue | doi.org/10.13182/FST09-A9172
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Since the mission of Tore Supra is to produce quasi-steady-state discharges, the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system constitutes the most important method of additional heating and noninductive current drive. A description of the LHCD system is given, including the different launcher designs developed for the Tore Supra long-pulse program. Following the completion of the Composants Internes et Limiteur project, together with the installation of a high-performance LHCD launcher, world record discharges, injected and extracted energy exceeding 1 GJ, were obtained in 2003. With the flexibility of lower hybrid (LH) waves to tailor the current profile, an enhanced performance regime, the so-called LHEP, has been maintained in quasi-steady-state discharges. Detailed measurements of the fast electron distribution have allowed us to constrain LHCD ray-tracing models and to quantify parametric dependencies describing the fast electron tail. Localized heat loads on the LHCD launchers due to interaction with fast particles have been measured and quantified, using infrared imaging and calorimetric measurements on water-cooled plasma facing components. Furthermore, experimental results in the area of LH wave coupling are presented.