a review of fusion and tokamak research towards steady-state operation a jaea contribution精品.pdfVIP

A Review of Fusion and Tokamak Research Towards Steady-State Operation: A JAEA Contribution Mitsuru Kikuchi Japan Atomic Energy Agency/ 311-0193, Naka Fusion Institute, Mukoyama 801-1, Naka-city, Ibaraki, Japan; E-Mail: kikuchi.mitsuru@jaea.go.jp; Tel.: +81-29-270-7294; Fax: +81-29-270-7462. Received: 30 September 2010; in revised form: 29 October 2010 / Accepted: 1 November 2010 / Published: 10 November 2010 Abstract: Providing a historical overview of 50 years of fusion research, a review of the fundamentals and concepts of fusion and research efforts towards the implementation of a steady state tokamak reactor is presented. In 1990, a steady-state tokamak reactor (SSTR) best utilizing the bootstrap current was developed. Since then, significant efforts have been made in major tokamaks, including JT-60U, exploring advanced regimes relevant to the steady state operation of tokamaks. In this paper, the fundamentals of fusion and plasma confinement, and the concepts and research on current drive and MHD stability of advanced tokamaks towards realization of a steady-state tokamak reactor are reviewed, with an emphasis on the contributions of the JAEA. Finally, a view of fusion energy utilization in the 21st century is introduced. Keywords: fusion; tokamak; steady-state 1. Introduction Fusion research to provide a scientific basis for fusion energy production has been carried out for 50 years [1]. World fusion research is ultimately directed to the construction and demonstration of a fusion power station in DEMO and to play a meaningful role in the energy supply at the end of this century [2,3]. Fusion research is a combination of: (1) the development of a scientific basis for plasma confinement and enabling technologies for fusion; (2) demonstrations of fus