Fusion for Sustainable World Development

Atsuo Iiyoshi
Chancellor, Chubu University, Kasugai, Japan(Emeritus Professor, Kyoto University)

Byodoin Hoo‐do, Uji, Kyoto

The temple close to the Uji‐campus of Kyoto University1

PHOENIX: A legendary bird believed to burn itself,
to revive as a new bird.
2

Outline
1. Pioneering fusion research at Kyoto Univ.
2. IAEA-FEC held in Japan：1974 Tokyo, 1986 Kyoto and 1998 Yokohama.
3. Comments on the world fusion research, including ITER.
4. Outstanding technical issues for fusion energy development
5. Fusion research contribution to sustainable world development
6. Conclusion

3

Pioneering fusion research at Kyoto Univ.
C-Stellarator (Princeton)around 1965

Heliotron E (Kyoto Univ.)
around 1980

L.Spitzer

The Large Helical Device(LHD) at NIFS, Toki, Japan

Machine construction andthe first plasma production
went on time.
4Progress in Large Helical Device (LHD) as a steady‐state device• Steady increase in plasma temperature.
• High plasma densities of the order of 1021 m-3 achieved.
• Steady-state plasma confinement, reaching a total injectedenergy of 3.4 GJ for a 48 min-long discharge.
• Deuterium experiments will start in March, 2017.

5

Looking back on the IAEA‐FEC in Yokohama, 1998
• IAEA-FEC held right after the D-T burning experiments inTFTR and JET.
• At the same time, ITER-EDA approaching a critical stage Design report concluded on July 1998, based on
discussion over the past 6-year output.
 3-yr extension of EDA for the cost reduction to bereported in 2001.
• Also, helical systems research entering a new era of largedevice experiments, producing the first plasma in LHD

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Great achievements
Fusion energy on the Earth:4-decades after H. Bhaba’s
statement in Geneva, 1955

Fusion triple product had
grown as fast as Moore’s law

Moore’s law

J.Jaquinot et al., PPCF 41 (1999) A137

Construction of ITER in progress“From ITER Communication”

Official statement for the First Plasma is in December, 2025
A two-year effort by the ITER Organization and the seven Domestic
Agencies came to conclusion on 16 June, as the ITER Council officiallyannounced its endorsement of the Resource-Loaded Integrated
Schedule for the ITER Project, which identifies the date of the First
Plasma production as in December 2025.

July 2016• D-T burning in
ITER may befurther in the future• 4-decades after
D-T experiments inJET and TFTR
©ITER Organization, http://www.iter.org

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Impact of the delay and increased cost in ITER
The delay in ITER project schedule and the increase inconstruction cost need to be recognized very seriously.
The fusion community needs to make more efforts together toresolve outstanding technical issues, intended to• Speed up the ITER construction and experimental schedule• Obtain a fundamental understanding for the D-T burning
experiments in ITER• Appeal to gain more public support for fusion.

In return to the large investment, the development of fusionenergy needs to be understood by public as one of the few
pathways to enable sustainable world development.
9Outstanding technical issues with magnetic fusionS1
There are still outstanding technical issues including:• Disruption (tokamaks)• Edge Localized Mode (ELM) (tokamaks)• Confinement physics• Divertor, power and particle handling• Impurity control• Materials development (IFMIF, fusion neutron test facility)• Test blanket module design and development• Decommissioning• ………..
Resolutions of these issues are crucial for the success of ITER.
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Recent highlights on tokamak research
A great deal of effort has already been made to resolve
outstanding technical issues, more specifically:• ELM control by the use of a non-symmetric perturbation
magnetic field in DIII-D and many other tokamaks• Tungsten wall experiments in JET and ASDEX-U, basedon the prediction that tungsten will be used as the wallmaterial in ITER and DEMO
• WEST and JT-60SA willsoon be coming on lineJT-60SA• EAST and KSTAR taking aleading role in the steadystate plasma control

Growing activities in Asia
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Research synthesis is important
A good example of research synthesis can be foundbetween tokamaks and helical systems
ELM control coil: Resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) onto
an axisymmetric tokamak magnetic field

3D equilibrium of ITER plasma(by HINT2 code, NIFS)
E.Daly et al., Fusion Sci. Tech. 64 (2013) 168.
T.E. Evans et al., Nucl. Fusion 53 (2013) 093029.

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JT‐60SA is expected to resolve outstanding issues for ITER
JT-60SA is coming up on schedule for thefirst plasma production in 2019, so as to:
1. Support the ITER project, producing
break-even-equivalent high-temperature
deuterium plasmas.

2. Complement ITER with long pulse

sustainment ~100s of high-pressure steadystate plasmas, necessary for DEMO.

3. Train next generation scientists to playleading roles in ITER and beyond.

The first TF Coil completed

Inside the Vacuum Vessel

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The first plasma in Wendelstein 7‐X

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel,
pushed the buttonfor the first hydrogen plasma
on February 3, 2016.

This movie: ~700 ms©IPP-GreifswaldNested magnetic surfaces confirmed,
and high-Te plasmas produced in its
first campaign.
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World Centers for High Power Laser Research• With the operation of NIF at LLNL, a large amount of laser energy
input for pellet implosions has been achieved towards D-T ignition.
• A great deal of progress on the understanding of implosion physics
has been achieved, demonstrating improved efficiencies of D-T burn.
Courtesy of Azechi

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Contribution by fusion researchto sustainable world development• Application of fusion neutrons:
transmutation of long-lived fission products (LLFP)• Application of high-temperature superconducting magnettechnologies

16Fusion neutrons for the transmutation of LLFPs (long‐lived fission products)
ImPACT report 2015-PM08-05-01

M. Sato et al.,Atomic number (Z)Mono energy fusion neutron is better for transmutation
stable unstable

105Pd

104Rh

(n,2n) reaction

107Ag

108Ag

109Ag

110Ag

β-decay

438y

106Pd

107Pd

108Pd

109Pd

(n,2n)

6.5My

105Rh

106Rh

107Rh

4.34m

1.47d

2.18h

Pd-107 + n(14.1MeV) Pd-106 + 2nnpn-capture 13.7h

Neutron (n)Neutron capturePd-107 + n(2.45MeV) Pd-108

A LLFP: Pd-107 with a half life time (β decay) of 6.5 M years can be:• transmuted into stable Pd-106 by D-T neutrons (14.1 MeV)
• transmuted into stable Pd-108 by D-D neutrons (2.45MeV)
Control over nuclear reactions is possible by the choice of neutron energy.
17Fusion neutrons for the transmutation of LLFPs (long‐lived fission products)
ImPACT report 2015-PM08-05-01

Required neutron fluxes toshorten the LLFP life timeeffective half-life time, yr
Effective
half-life time, Year

101010M. Sato et al.,PHITS (Monte Carlo code) isapplied to a shell geometry ofLLFP(107Pd) containing 14.1 MeV
neutron sources

417-2 -1

18-2 -1

10 n m s

3n-capture

10 n m s2(n,2n)19

10

1

100-2 -1

10 n m sReactor firstwall flux

Neutron sources
Φ500

624 624 62110100 (cm)
LLFP
thickness(Pd-107)
(cm)
LLFP
thickness

LLFP(107Pd)t(cm)D-T neutrons of ~1019 n/m2sec can decrease
the half-life time of a LLFP to around 10 years
18Fusion neutrons for the transmutation of LLFPs (long‐lived fission products)
ImPACT report 2015-PM08-05-01

Required neutron fluxes toshorten the LLFP life timeeffective
half-lifetime,time, yr
Effective
half-life
Year

10

10

1010

A schematic view of the proposed LLFPtransmutation systemby the use of fusion neutrons

41710

M. Sato et al.,

-2 -1

10 n m s3

18-2 -1

19-2 -1

LLFP

LLFP
Insertion
Module10 n m s

2

φ0.8m

10 n m s

1Reactor firstwall flux

Cooling & Heat
Recovery
MirrorMagnet

0624 624 62

10100 (cm)
LLFP
thickness(Pd-107)
(cm)
LLFP
thickness
1D-T neutrons of ~1019 n/m2sec can decrease
the half-life time of a LLFP to around 10 years

10m
LLFP
Insertion
Module19

DC Superconducting Power Transmission
Ishikari, Hokkaido

S. Yamaguchi et al.,500-meter SC cable PV panels
Bi2223 HTS cable@77K
Power Loss of SC cable~ 1/10 of Copper cable

SAKURA Internet Data Center

Power = 100MW(±10kV, 5kA)
Diameter =42“Energy Super Highway”
20Conclusions
 Fusion research has reached a level of technical maturity
to build ITER, which, however, does not mean everythingis finished successfully. There are still outstanding
technical issues.
 Worldwide competitive andcollaborative network
research is becoming more
important for the success offusion research

ITER

LHD-D exp.

 Research synthesis isimportant to produce newideas to resolve outstanding
technical issues
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Conclusions (contd.)• I would like to encourage next-generation researchers here
and all over the world to challenge all the existing technicaldifficulties.
• In return to the large investment, the contribution tosustainable world development by fusion research isimportant.
• I sincerely hope that this IAEA Fusion Energy Conference
here in Kyoto is landmarked to provide us with an opportunity
to bring about new ideas for revitalizing fusion research.

Thank you very much for your attention.
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