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| News |
| Fusion Research |
| Breakthrough Fusion Simulation |
| A team of researchers from the University of California-Irvine (UCI), in conjunction with staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory's National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS), has just completed what it says is the largest run in fusion simulation history. The team, led by Yong Xiao and Zhihong Lin of UCI, used 93% of the NCCS's flagship supercomputer Jaguar, a Cray XT4, with the fusion code GTC (Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code), the key production code of two fusion SciDAC projects (GPS-TTBP and GSEP). The simulation primarily studied electron transport in ITER (because in ITER the fusion process will primarily heat electrons, electron transport will be more important compared to existing fusion devices). ITER is the international fusion reactor project being built in France. |
To successfully produce a fusion reaction, an extremely hot ionized gas known as a plasma must be confined magnetically for a sufficient period of time. Previous research has shown that heat transport for both the ions and the electrons in the plasma is far greater than theory predicts (the electron heat transport can be two orders of magnitude greater). This larger-than-expected heat transport could lead to confinement failure within one second, quickly rendering energy production impossible if reactor designs are not modified to accommodate it. The researchers discovered, among other things, that for a device the size of ITER, the containment vessel will demonstrate GyroBohm scaling, meaning that the heat transport level is inversely proportional to the device size. In other words, the simulation supports the ITER design: a larger device will lead to more efficient confinement. "The success of fusion research depends on good confinement of the burning plasma," said Xiao. "This simulation size is the one closest to ITER in terms of practical parameters and proper electron physics.
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