Cross-machine comparison of runaway electron generation during tokamak start-up for extrapolation to ITER
Abstract
A cross-machine comparison of global parameters that determine the runaway electron (RE) generation and loss process during tokamak start-up was carried out with the aim to extrapolate these to ITER. The study found that all considered discharges, also those that do not show signs of RE, are non-thermal at the start, i.e. have a streaming parameter larger than 0.1. During the current ramp-up the electric field, E, remains above the critical value, Ec, that allows RE in the plasma. The distinction to be made is not if RE can form but, if sufficient RE can form fast enough such that they are detected or start to dominate the dynamics of the tokamak discharge. The dynamics of the value of E, density and temperature during tokamak are key to the formation of RE. It was found that larger devices operate with E closer to Ec, due to their higher temperatures, hence the RE generation is relatively slower. The slower time scales for the formation of RE, estimated to be of the order of 100s of ms in ITER simplifies the development of avoidance schemes. The RE confinement time is also an important determinant of the entire process and is found tomore »
- Authors:
-
- ITER Organization, St. Paul Lez Durance (France)
- Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republic of)
- Joint Stock Company NIIEFA (Russian Federation); Saint Petersburg State University (Russian Federation)
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- CEA, IRFM, Saint Paul Lez Durance (France)
- UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Culham (United Kingdom)
- National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) (Italy)
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Univ. Carlos III de Madrid (Spain)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Contributing Org.:
- ITPA IOS Collaborators
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1992114
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-09CH11466; SC0014264
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nuclear Fusion
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 63; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5515
- Publisher:
- IOP Science
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; tokamak; plasma initiation; current ramp-up; runaway electrons
Citation Formats
de Vries, P. C., Lee, Y., Gribov, Y., Mineev, A. B., Na, Y. S., Granetz, R., Stein-Lubrano, B., Reux, C., Moreau, Ph, Kiptily, V., Esposito, B., Battaglia, D. J., and Martin-Solis, J. R. Cross-machine comparison of runaway electron generation during tokamak start-up for extrapolation to ITER. United States: N. p., 2023.
Web. doi:10.1088/1741-4326/acdd11.
de Vries, P. C., Lee, Y., Gribov, Y., Mineev, A. B., Na, Y. S., Granetz, R., Stein-Lubrano, B., Reux, C., Moreau, Ph, Kiptily, V., Esposito, B., Battaglia, D. J., & Martin-Solis, J. R. Cross-machine comparison of runaway electron generation during tokamak start-up for extrapolation to ITER. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/acdd11
de Vries, P. C., Lee, Y., Gribov, Y., Mineev, A. B., Na, Y. S., Granetz, R., Stein-Lubrano, B., Reux, C., Moreau, Ph, Kiptily, V., Esposito, B., Battaglia, D. J., and Martin-Solis, J. R. Tue .
"Cross-machine comparison of runaway electron generation during tokamak start-up for extrapolation to ITER". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/acdd11. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1992114.
@article{osti_1992114,
title = {Cross-machine comparison of runaway electron generation during tokamak start-up for extrapolation to ITER},
author = {de Vries, P. C. and Lee, Y. and Gribov, Y. and Mineev, A. B. and Na, Y. S. and Granetz, R. and Stein-Lubrano, B. and Reux, C. and Moreau, Ph and Kiptily, V. and Esposito, B. and Battaglia, D. J. and Martin-Solis, J. R.},
abstractNote = {A cross-machine comparison of global parameters that determine the runaway electron (RE) generation and loss process during tokamak start-up was carried out with the aim to extrapolate these to ITER. The study found that all considered discharges, also those that do not show signs of RE, are non-thermal at the start, i.e. have a streaming parameter larger than 0.1. During the current ramp-up the electric field, E, remains above the critical value, Ec, that allows RE in the plasma. The distinction to be made is not if RE can form but, if sufficient RE can form fast enough such that they are detected or start to dominate the dynamics of the tokamak discharge. The dynamics of the value of E, density and temperature during tokamak are key to the formation of RE. It was found that larger devices operate with E closer to Ec, due to their higher temperatures, hence the RE generation is relatively slower. The slower time scales for the formation of RE, estimated to be of the order of 100s of ms in ITER simplifies the development of avoidance schemes. The RE confinement time is also an important determinant of the entire process and is found to increase with the device size. The study also revealed that drift orbit losses, a mechanism often attributed as the main RE loss mechanism during the early tokamak discharge, are actually more difficult to achieve. RE losses might be more likely attributed to RE diffusion due to magnetic turbulence.},
doi = {10.1088/1741-4326/acdd11},
journal = {Nuclear Fusion},
number = 8,
volume = 63,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2023},
month = {Tue Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2023}
}
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