Our fusion group has recently expanded its research activities to the simulation of fusion reactor materials, in particular investigating the formation and evolution of radiation generated defects in metal alloys.
Due to the complex character of these alloys, an accurate treatment is often only posible up to some hundred atoms. The BigDFT code, co-developed by BSC, has potential to go beyond this limitation and treat systems which have not been accessible so far.
Researchers from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratories (PPPL) presented first results from the research on the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) at the 26th International Atomic Energy Agency Conference (IAEA) in Kyoto, Japan.
The upgrade finished in May 2016 made the NSTX-U the most powerful fusion facility of its kind, since it doubled the magnetic field strength, plasma current and heating power capability of the predecessor facility. To achieve this the central stack (solenoid) was widened.
From 2nd to 4th of November, the BSC Fusion group member Felipe Nathan attended the “HPC methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics and Astrophysics” held at CINECA, the facility which hosts the supercomputer Marconi-Fusion, the new European High Performance Computer for fusion applications.
Last week, 24-26 October 2016, our fusion group member Shimpei Futatani attended the ITPA Meeting in Naka, which provides a framework for internationally coordinated fusion research activities.
Shimpei gave an oral presentation on his work ‘Non-linear MHD modelling of pellet triggered ELMs’ at the meeting. The work contributes to the physics understanding of pellet triggered ELM in JET and ASDEX Upgrade tokamaks and has been carried out within EUROfusion, the European Consortium for the Development of Fusion Energy.
Researchers working at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility at General Atomics (GA), in collaboration with scientists from University of California-Irvine and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, have created an important new tool for controlling energy-producing plasma in fusion devices. This work will be published in the January 2017 edition of Nuclear Fusion.
This week, 17-22 October 2016, our Fusion Group member Shimpei Futatani has attended the 26th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in Kyoto, which is one of the important international conferences in the field of fusion energy research. It provides a forum for the discussion of key physics and technology issues as well as innovative concepts of direct relevance to the use of nuclear fusion as a source of energy.