Abstract Details
Abstracts
Author: Xianzhu Tang
Requested Type: Consider for Invited
Submitted: 2024-03-29 15:37:11
Co-authors:
Contact Info:
Los Alamos Natiional Laboratory
T-5 Applied Math & Plasma Phys
Los Alamos, NM 87544
USA
Abstract Text:
Over the past decade, there has been a major push in the world-wide
fusion program that is intensely focused on understanding the physics
of tokamak disruptions and innovating effective approaches for their
mitigation in tokamak reactors like ITER. The U.S. contributed
significantly through theory/simulation (e.g. SciDACs) and experiments
(e.g. DIII-D). With the conclusion of three SciDAC-4 projects on many
aspects of disruption physics in 2023, it is timely now to take stock
of the significant progresses being made in the theory and modeling of
disruption physics, and the remaining challenges and opportunities for
further progresses and hopefully a major breakthrough. Here a brief
review is given on the current state-of-the-art of our understanding
of the plasma physics that govern thermal quench and current quench in
a major disruption, as well as a number of known mitigation approaches
that target the deleterious effects brought upon by thermal and
current quenches. New mitigation ideas/options based on the physics
findings from theory/simulation will then be discussed, along with the
significant challenges that remain. These include those in plasma
physics as well as uncertainties outside the confines of traditional
plasma physics, in areas such as neutron-chamber interaction,
runaway-material interaction, radiative physics in a mitigated plasma,
and actuator-plasma coupling. Special attention will be made on
elucidating the fundamental physics underlying key physical processes,
and explaining how the governing physics bring both constraints and
options for what a successful mitigation strategy can be. The goal of
the talk is to provide both a tutorial on the physics and some of more
practical considerations in fusion science and engineering that are
essential for tokamak fusion energy, and an outlook that motivates
broader interests and participation from the community to tackle the
significant challenges ahead.
Comments:
This is an abstract submission solely intended for a review talk. If not selected by the program committee, I will submit a different abstract on current research instead.