Research Needs for Magnetic Fusion Energy Sciences - US Burning ...

Panel Research Thrust Comments
Control Thrust 5: expand the limits for controlling and
sustaining fusion plasmas.
transient
Plasma
Events
Plasma
Modification
by auxiliary
Systems
Thrust 8: Understand the highly integrated dynamics
of dominantly self-heated and self-sustained burning
plasmas.
115
Primary thrust.
Provides tests and integration in
burning, self-sustained regimes.
Thrust 2: control transient events in burning plasmas. disruption and elm control.
Thrust 2: control transient events in burning plasmas. Primary thrust, with strong iteR
focus.
Thrust 5: expand the limits for controlling and
sustaining fusion plasmas.
Thrust 17: optimize steady-state, disruption-free
toroidal confinement using 3-d magnetic shaping, and
emphasizing quasi-symmetry principles.
Thrust 3: Understand the role of alpha particles in
burning plasmas.
Thrust 11: improve power handling through
engineering innovation.
Thrust 5: expand the limits for controlling and
sustaining fusion plasmas.
Thrust 4: Qualify operational scenarios and the
supporting physics basis for iteR.
Thrust 6: develop predictive models for fusion plasmas,
supported by theory and
challenged with experimental measurement.
issues and solutions for steady-state,
high-performance tokamaks.
issues and solutions for steady-state
stellarators.
Fast alpha loss events.
transient event tolerant walls.
Primary thrust, develops heating,
current drive, fueling needed for
active control and sustainment.
addresses auxiliary system issues for
iteR scenarios.
Physics understanding of waves,
transport.
Thrust 9: Unfold the physics of boundary layer plasmas. addresses issues of RF waves in
boundary.
Magnets Thrust 7: exploit high-temperature superconductors
and other magnet innovations to advance fusion
research.
Primary thrust, with application to
multiple Themes and panels.
Table 3. Connections Between Theme 2 Requirements and Research Thrusts.
it can be seen from the above table that the mapping between panels and Thrusts is complex. This
reflects the strong interrelation between issues arising in different panels and Themes. in some
cases, it was judged preferable to attack groups of related issues together. The most notable example
of this is Thrust 5. controlling any aspect of plasma behavior, including transient events,
requires accurate sensors and effective auxiliary systems, as well as state-of-the-art algorithms
based on physical models. This broad Thrust takes an integrated approach to the control and sustainment
challenge, and combines key elements of the measurements, control, auxiliary systems,
transient Plasma events and validated Theory and Predictive modeling panel research requirements.
in several other cases, subsets of issues from a given panel are addressed in different thrusts, often
combined with other themes, to form focused and coherent research activities with reduced
overlap. For example, the extremely broad issues arising in integration of steady-state, high-per-