Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EUROfusion (Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon Europe through a joint programme of the members of the EUROfusion consortium)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-01-01 al 2022-12-31
In a pan-European collaboration under the umbrella of the EUROfusion consortium, almost 200 research institutes, universities, and R&D organisations work together towards the realisation of fusion energy. The optimal fusion process for power generation on earth is the fusion of the hydrogenic isotopes Deuterium and Tritium. The process requires a delicate balance between the magnetic confinement necessary to isolate the plasma inside the reactor volume away from the wall components, and the power created by the fusion process itself while dealing with the extremely hot plasma. Fusion is not a single technology but depends on a complex set of intertwined technologies from multiple disciplines. The main objective of the DEMOnstration fusion power plant (DEMO) design and technology R&D during Horizon Europe is to further advance the technical basis of a DEMO fusion power plant aiming at a complete integrated concept design. This includes detailed assessments of the technical feasibility, safety, licensing issues and life-cycle costs.
Maturation of the concepts related to plasma operation with reduced impact on the plasma facing components, validity of the theoretical models, and an increased accuracy of simulation codes is needed for the further development of fusion technologies towards a DEMOnstration power plant (DEMO). Under EUROfusion, the physics understanding of fusion plasmas through experimental, theoretical, and computational modelling has progressed with the focus on down-selecting plasma operational scenarios, that have the potential to be reactor relevant. A promising path to reduce the impact on the Tokamak wall materials while maintaining good performance has been obtained. The experiments at various machines around Europe have focused on research into scenarios that avoid Magneto-Hydrodynamic turbulence that generates bursts of plasma particles and energy to the walls. These findings will be tested in the next and the last Deuterium and Tritium experiments in the JET tokamak during the 2023 programme. A dedicated experimental campaign in the ASDEX-Upgrade and JET tokamaks, with Helium as the main plasma species provided the needed input to ITER to help defining and design the ITER pre fusion-operational phase. In the initial plasma operational phases, ITER will run with Helium as the main plasma species to verify the main R&D concepts before using Deuterium and Tritium fuelling.
Disruptions occur in fusion plasmas because of a sudden loss of plasma stability control and may result in an event in which the plasma loses its magnetic and thermal energy very rapidly to the surrounding materials. A Shattered Pellet Injector, a device designed to inject frozen pellets few milimeters in diameter made from different combinations of the Hydrogenic isotopes or neutral elements such as Neon or Argon, was used and tested at the ASDEX-Upgrade and JET Tokamaks in a collaborative effort to help ITER design its Disruption mitigation system.
The DEMO Concept Design Phase is proceeding as planned and the DEMO Central Team has grown in a continued effort to establish the necessary foundations required to consolidate the DEMO project towards the second gate review (G2). In the second half of the year, design efforts were focussed on three critical categories with an increased iterative cycle: 1) the consolidation of plant design space including reviewing high field magnets, a low aspect ratio design point, and the assessment of stakeholder requirements, 2) maturation and selection of critical system design variants for the breeding blanket, divertor and limiter, and 3) the tokamak building layout and hazardous substance inventories.
The technology maturity assessments, conducted by independent expert panels, were launched as a critical step in the preparation of G2. The primary objectives of the assessments are to obtain technical recommendations from the panel on the current technical activities and provide a progress status. The methodology is aligned with industry norms by reviewing and evaluating the technical readiness level.
A critical point raised during the first DEMO gate review (G1) on the remote maintenance and associated facilities was addressed. The panel reviewing the remote handling test facilities proposal, highlighted the most urgent and relevant test facilities and strategy; the DEMO-relevant existing ITER test-rigs and mock-ups, and the identification of parameters, missing R&D and priorities from the DEMO central team and affected work packages.
Two grant schemes for excellent early career scientists and engineers have been continued and improved. In 2022 a total of 36 new grants (EUROfusion Engineering and Researcher Grants) were awarded. An Engineering Training Program for the grantees was further developed and will be expanded in the upcoming years. In academic education, EUROfusion co-funds more than 630 doctoral thesis projects on fusion annually and stimulates education on earlier levels via FuseNet.
Disruptions occur in fusion plasmas because of a sudden loss of plasma stability control and may result in an event in which the plasma loses its magnetic and thermal energy very rapidly to the surrounding materials. A Shattered Pellet Injector, a device designed to inject frozen pellets few milimeters in diameter made from different combinations of the Hydrogenic isotopes or neutral elements such as Neon or Argon, was used and tested at the ASDEX-Upgrade and JET Tokamaks in a collaborative effort to help ITER design its Disruption mitigation system.
The DEMO Concept Design Phase is proceeding as planned and the DEMO Central Team has grown in a continued effort to establish the necessary foundations required to consolidate the DEMO project towards the second gate review (G2). In the second half of the year, design efforts were focussed on three critical categories with an increased iterative cycle: 1) the consolidation of plant design space including reviewing high field magnets, a low aspect ratio design point, and the assessment of stakeholder requirements, 2) maturation and selection of critical system design variants for the breeding blanket, divertor and limiter, and 3) the tokamak building layout and hazardous substance inventories.
The technology maturity assessments, conducted by independent expert panels, were launched as a critical step in the preparation of G2. The primary objectives of the assessments are to obtain technical recommendations from the panel on the current technical activities and provide a progress status. The methodology is aligned with industry norms by reviewing and evaluating the technical readiness level.
A critical point raised during the first DEMO gate review (G1) on the remote maintenance and associated facilities was addressed. The panel reviewing the remote handling test facilities proposal, highlighted the most urgent and relevant test facilities and strategy; the DEMO-relevant existing ITER test-rigs and mock-ups, and the identification of parameters, missing R&D and priorities from the DEMO central team and affected work packages.
Two grant schemes for excellent early career scientists and engineers have been continued and improved. In 2022 a total of 36 new grants (EUROfusion Engineering and Researcher Grants) were awarded. An Engineering Training Program for the grantees was further developed and will be expanded in the upcoming years. In academic education, EUROfusion co-funds more than 630 doctoral thesis projects on fusion annually and stimulates education on earlier levels via FuseNet.
The W7-X Stellarator achieved 1.3 Giga Joules of injected energy in a 8-minute record plasma discharge, a significant result not only for the Stellarator line but also for Tokamaks. Similarly, to the WEST Tokamak, the W-7X Stellarator uses plasma facing actively cooled components, where pumps continuedly move water through the pipes installed under the plasma facing materials in order to dissipate and remove the plasma exhaust heat and hence reduce the long term deuteriation of these surface materials.
The relocation of the MaPLE-U facility from the University of California, Los Angeles to the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie was successfully completed. MaPLE-U has been recommissioned as a EUROfusion facility open for use by its partners. MaPLE-U is a key facility that will support European scientists in understanding magnetohydrodynamics phenomena together with heat transport in liquid metal and will enhance the verification and validation of the codes used for studying these issues. This will reinforce the design assumptions providing results of higher reliability. MaPLE-U will be used both for the ITER Test Blanket Module and DEMO blanket development.
The relocation of the MaPLE-U facility from the University of California, Los Angeles to the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie was successfully completed. MaPLE-U has been recommissioned as a EUROfusion facility open for use by its partners. MaPLE-U is a key facility that will support European scientists in understanding magnetohydrodynamics phenomena together with heat transport in liquid metal and will enhance the verification and validation of the codes used for studying these issues. This will reinforce the design assumptions providing results of higher reliability. MaPLE-U will be used both for the ITER Test Blanket Module and DEMO blanket development.