A sustained high-temperature fusion plasma regime facilitated by fast ions

H. Han, S. J. Park, C. Sung, Jia-Ning Kang, Y. H. Lee, J. Chung, T. S. Hahm, B. Kim, J.-K. Park, J. G. Bak, M. S. Cha, G. J. Choi, M. J. Choi, J. Gwak, S. H. Hahn, J. Jang, K. C. Lee, J. H. Kim, S. K. Kim, W. C. Kim, J. Ko, W. H. Ko, C. Y. Lee, J. H. Lee, J. H. Lee, J. K. Lee, J. P. Lee, K. D. Lee, Y. S. Park, J. Seo, S. M. Yang, S. W. Yoon and Y.-S. Na ()
Additional contact information
H. Han: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
S. J. Park: Seoul National University
C. Sung: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Y. H. Lee: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. Chung: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
T. S. Hahm: Seoul National University
B. Kim: Seoul National University
J.-K. Park: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
J. G. Bak: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
M. S. Cha: Seoul National University
G. J. Choi: Seoul National University
M. J. Choi: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. Gwak: Seoul National University
S. H. Hahn: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. Jang: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
K. C. Lee: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. H. Kim: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
S. K. Kim: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
W. C. Kim: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. Ko: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
W. H. Ko: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
C. Y. Lee: Seoul National University
J. H. Lee: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. H. Lee: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. K. Lee: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
J. P. Lee: Hanyang University
K. D. Lee: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
Y. S. Park: Columbia University
J. Seo: Seoul National University
S. M. Yang: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
S. W. Yoon: Korea Institute of Fusion Energy
Y.-S. Na: Seoul National University

Nature, 2022, vol. 609, issue 7926, 269-275

Abstract: Abstract Nuclear fusion is one of the most attractive alternatives to carbon-dependent energy sources1. Harnessing energy from nuclear fusion in a large reactor scale, however, still presents many scientific challenges despite the many years of research and steady advances in magnetic confinement approaches. State-of-the-art magnetic fusion devices cannot yet achieve a sustainable fusion performance, which requires a high temperature above 100 million kelvin and sufficient control of instabilities to ensure steady-state operation on the order of tens of seconds2,3. Here we report experiments at the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research4 device producing a plasma fusion regime that satisfies most of the above requirements: thanks to abundant fast ions stabilizing the core plasma turbulence, we generate plasmas at a temperature of 100 million kelvin lasting up to 20 seconds without plasma edge instabilities or impurity accumulation. A low plasma density combined with a moderate input power for operation is key to establishing this regime by preserving a high fraction of fast ions. This regime is rarely subject to disruption and can be sustained reliably even without a sophisticated control, and thus represents a promising path towards commercial fusion reactors.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05008-1

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