Implications of NSTX lithium results for magnetic fusion research

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Fusion Engineering and Design

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2010.03.045· OSTI ID:1081807

Ono, M. ^[1]; Bell, M. G. ^[1]; Canik, John ^[2]; Diem, Stephanie J ^[2]; Maingi, Rajesh ^[2]

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1. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)
2. ORNL

Lithium wall coating techniques have been experimentally explored on National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) for the last five years. The lithium experimentation on NSTX started with a few milligrams of lithium injected into the plasma as pellets and it has evolved to a lithium evaporation system which can evaporate up to similar to 100 g of lithium onto the lower divertor plates between lithium re-loadings. The unique feature of the lithium research program on NSTX is that it can investigate the effects of lithium in H-mode divertor plasmas. This lithium evaporation system thus far has produced many intriguing and potentially important results; the latest of these are summarized in a companion paper by H. Kugel. In this paper, we suggest possible implications and applications of the NSTX lithium results on the magnetic fusion research which include electron and global energy confinement improvements, MHD stability enhancement at high beta, edge localized mode (ELM) control, H-mode power threshold reduction, improvements in radio frequency heating and non-inductive plasma start-up performance, innovative divertor solutions and improved operational efficiency.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1081807
• Journal Information: Fusion Engineering and Design, Vol. 85, Issue 6; ISSN 0920-3796
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English