DIII-D tokamak passes 200,000 shots
The DIII-D tokamak team at General Atomics (San Diego, US) celebrated a big milestone this month—achieving, and passing, the 200,000th plasma shot since the device began operating in the mid-1980s.
DIII-D played an important role in providing data for the engineering design phase of ITER. DIII-D pioneered key fusion technology, including the use of beams of neutral particles for plasma heating and resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) coils to suppress plasma instabilities called Edge Localized Modes (ELMs). DIII-D is currently exploring a wide range of scientific issues which will assist in optimizing ITER operation. These include the exploration of the effect that internal stabilization coils have on preventing energy bursts from the plasma edge, the development of high-power microwave transmission line components with low energy losses, and work on software for controlling the plasma and protecting the ITER machine.
“While completing 200,000 shots is impressive in its own right, this achievement is far more than a mere number,” said Dr. Richard Buttery, Director of the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, in a press release issued on 24 October. “Those shots represent steady, important progress on the road to fusion energy. Each one is a challenge solved, a question answered, a career begun or progressed, or a new technology proven. In a very real sense, the history of DIII-D is a history of fusion energy research, and we are very excited for what we have planned for DIII-D in the future.”
In recent years, researchers have used DIII-D to make several important advancements in fusion, including surpassing a theoretical limitation on plasma density (an operational requirement for nearly all fusion power plant designs) and creating the world’s most powerful fusion plasmas in novel configurations, according to the press release. "These experiments have significant implications for the design of future power plants and the associated costs related to building, operating, and maintaining them."
"DIII-D has been continually upgraded throughout its history, expanding its capabilities to serve as a testbed for the development of fusion technologies and scientific understanding. It recently completed an eight-month facility upgrade that further strengthened its standing as one of the most flexible and capable fusion research facilities in the world. The research campaign now being pursued with the newly upgraded device will help close key gaps between current experiments, the first fusion pilot plants (FPPs), and future fusion reactors."
See the full press release here.