IMPACT · Innovative Model-based Plasma Algorithms for Control of spherical Tokamaks

The huge mass of a star and its associated gravitational forces make the nuclei of hydrogen atoms collide and fuse, releasing energy in the form of energetic neutrons. This process, called nuclear fusion, has a very high energy density, and does not produce CO2 or long-lived radioactive waste. For these reasons, nuclear fusion has attracted the attention of scientists since the 1950s, who have tried to reproduce the conditions of a star in their laboratories. So far, tokamaks are the most promising prototype for a nuclear-fusion power plant on Earth. In particular, spherical tokamaks provide an attractive configuration due to their compactness and lower cost than conventional tokamaks. This would provide a means to mitigate the actual climate and energy crisis, using nuclear fusion to complement other renewable energies in a greener future.Control of the tokamak plant and associated systems, whose final goal is to confine a plasma by means of magnetic fields, is critical to attain the necessary conditions for nuclear fusion to happen. However, plasma control in spherical tokamaks requires specific solutions due to their challenging plasma shapes and pressures, which often trigger plasma instabilities. Under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions, the IMPACT project (Innovative Model-based Plasma Algorithms for Control of spherical Tokamaks) will design a state-of-the-art plasma-control system for spherical tokamaks and will deploy it on the SMall Aspect Ratio Tokamak (SMART). Under this project, novel algorithms based on plasma dynamical models will be developed to tackle the newest control challenges in spherical tokamaks, including negative triangularity plasma shaping to enable higher plasma confinement and ensure safety of the tokamak reactor. This project will ensure the realization and sustainment of the plasmas needed in SMART, thus enabling and accelerating its scientific and technological mission to make nuclear fusion a reality.