Abstract
Here we report the progress of the development and optimization of operational scenarios for ITER and beyond, focusing upon baseline, hybrid, and steady-state scenarios since 2007. This includes advancements made by the integrated operation scenarios (IOS) topical group of the international tokamak physical activity as well as contributions from the broader tokamak community. The key area of research involves developing IOSs that encompass tokamak physics, operation, and technology by utilizing integrated modeling and control strategies. This requires leveraging available actuators to simultaneously control plasma position and shape, MHD activities that could lead to disruptions, transport, plasma-wall interaction and power exhaust, fuel cycle, fusion burn, and tritium breeding. The control extends from the plasma initiation phase, through the current ramp-up, flattop, start and end of the fusion burn, and current ramp-down, to the plasma termination phase. A review of the currently developed scenarios and modeling is provided in terms of (i) optimizing plasma initiation in ITER, (ii) preparing for the low activation phase to fully commission all tokamak systems and establish and validate physics and scenario conditions in preparation for deuterim-tritium (DT) operation, (iii) developing and preparing baseline and hybrid scenarios to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving these regimes within device constraints, (iv) exploring steady-state scenarios to meet ITER’s steady-state goals, (v) evaluating and preparing actuators for ITER, (vi) developing integrated control solutions using shared actuators. The most notable achievements include; (i) the development of ITER demonstration discharges by matching various dimensionless parameters, (ii) the development of scenarios in an ITER-like tungsten environment and DT operation, and (iii) the development of scenarios in superconducting tokamaks, enabling long-pulse operations with similar coil constraints to ITER. Along with these significant achievements, outstanding issues and recommendations for further research and development are provided. Importantly, this study goes beyond simply updating the ITER Physics Basis; it carries profound implications for the broader field of burning plasma research, offering valuable insights and guidance for the next generation of fusion experiments and devices.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 093001 |
| Journal | Nuclear Fusion |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2025 |
Funding
This work was supported by Korean Ministry of Science and ICT under the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) R&D Programs of ‘High Performance Tokamak Plasma Research & Development (Code No. EN2501-16)’, the National R&D Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Science and ICT) NRF-2021M1A7A4091135 and RS-2024-00358933. The authors also gratefully acknowledge The Research Institute of Energy and Resources, The Institute of Engineering Research, and the SNU Energy Initiative at Seoul National University. Eugenio Schuster was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, under Award DE-SC0010661. This work is also supported in part by the US Department of Energy (Grant Nos. DE-SC0010685, DE-FC02-04ER54698). The authors would like to express our deep gratitude to George Sips, Shunsuke Ide, Tim Luce, and Joseph Snipes for their exceptional leadership in guiding IOS activities as chairs. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the Guest Editors responsible for this chapter, Charles Greenfield and Francesca Poli, as well as the entire team of guest editors for this Nuclear Fusion Special Issue. Additionally, we are grateful to all the experts in the ITPA IOS topical group who participated in discussions about this manuscript at IOS and other meetings over the past four years, providing valuable comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Paul Bonoli for his helpful feedback. Finally, we would like to sincerely thank Mr Min Ki Jung (SNU) for his thorough editing of the entire chapter. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the ITER Organization.
Keywords
- ITER
- ITPA
- burning plasma
- integrated modeling
- operation scenario
- tokamak control