Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions

Alpha particles with energies on the order of megaelectronvolts will be the main source of plasma heating in future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Instead of heating fuel ions, most of the energy of alpha particles is transferred to electrons in the plasma. Furthermore, alpha particles can al...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature Physics Vol. 18; no. 7; pp. 776 - 782
Main Authors:	Zarzoso, D., Benkadda, S., Akhtar, M., Alessi, E., Ariola, M., Begolli, A., Bernardo, J., Bishop, H., Blanchard, P., Bohm, P., Brix, M., Buermans, J., Buscarino, A., Camenen, Y., Carvalho, P., Casiraghi, I., Coelho, R., Conka, D., Conway, B., Coombs, D., Cox, P., Crapper, C., Davies, A., Eriksson, F., Evans, G., Ferreira, J., Fitzgerald, M., Flammini, D., Fontana, M., Fransson, E., Fresa, R., Gallart, D., Gibson, C., Goniche, M., Gorini, G., Grove, R., Guard, D., Hawkes, N., Hermon, G., Hook, M., lmrie, D., lngleby, J., Insulander Björk, K., Kantor, A., Kim, H., Klix, A., Kowalska-Strzeciwilk, E., Krasilnikov, A., Lawson, K., Lazzaro, E., Lengar, I., Litaudon, X., Lyons, B., Macusova, E., Matejcik, S., Mayer, M. ; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5337-6963, Mazzotta, C., McCullen, P., Mertens, P., Messiaen, A., Nina, D., Organ, E., Oyaizu, M., Paz Soldan, C., Pereira, T., Perry, D., Pironti, A., Provatas, G., Rasmussen, J., Richyal, S., Rivero-Rodriguez, J., Robson, D., Rowe, S., Safi, E., Salzedas, F., Scapin, N., Shiraki, D., Silburn, S., Snell, J., Solokha, V., Spagnolo, S., Staebler, G., Stephens, J., Svensson, J., Tipton, A., Tomes, M., Torikai, Y., Vondracek, P., Wedderburn Maxwell, H., Wendler, N., Wheatley, M., Wheeler, S., Wilkinson, J., Wilson, J., Woodley, C., Yajima, M., Yang, Y., Zayachuk, Y., Zoita, V., Zychor, I.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Springer Science and Business Media LLC 01.07.2022 Nature Publishing Group UK Nature Publishing Group Nature Publishing Group [2005-....] Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
Subjects:	639/4077/4091/4093 639/766/1960/1136 639/766/530/2803 [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-PLASM-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Plasma Physics [physics.plasm-ph] [PHYS]Physics [physics] Alpha particles Alpha particles ; Fusion reactors ; Turbulence Alpha rays Atomic Classical and Continuum Physics Complex Systems Condensed Matter Physics CONFINEMENT ddc:600 Experiments fusion plasmas Fusion reactors info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/600 Ions Joint European Torus magnetically confined plasma; nuclear fusion; tokamaks; turbulence suppression Mathematical and Computational Physics megaelectronvolt ions Molecular Nuclear and particle physics. Atomic energy. Radioactivity Optical and Plasma Physics Performance enhancement PHYSICS Physics and Astronomy Plasma Plasma heating Plasma Physics Plasma physics. Ionized gases Plasmas (physics) Reactors SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy Settore FIS/01 - FISICA SPERIMENTALE Settore ING-IND/18 - FISICA DEI REATTORI NUCLEARI simulation Technology Technology and Engineering Theoretical Toruses TRANSPORT Turbulence turbulence suppression Zonal flow (meteorology)
ISSN:	1745-2473, 1745-2481, 1745-2481
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Alpha particles with energies on the order of megaelectronvolts will be the main source of plasma heating in future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Instead of heating fuel ions, most of the energy of alpha particles is transferred to electrons in the plasma. Furthermore, alpha particles can also excite Alfvénic instabilities, which were previously considered to be detrimental to the performance of the fusion device. Here we report improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of megaelectronvolts ions and strong fast ion-driven Alfvénic instabilities in recent experiments on the Joint European Torus. Detailed transport analysis of these experiments reveals turbulence suppression through a complex multi-scale mechanism that generates large-scale zonal flows. This holds promise for more economical operation of fusion reactors with dominant alpha particle heating and ultimately cheaper fusion electricity. Experiments at the Joint European Torus tokamak show improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of highly energetic ions and Alfvénic instabilities in the plasma.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 AC02-09CH11466 USDOE EUROfusion Consortium None
ISSN:	1745-2473 1745-2481 1745-2481
DOI:	10.1038/s41567-022-01626-8