Fusion physics  

1 - Introduction: the goals

2 - What do we want to obtain? A well confined, hot and dense plasma...

a) Power balance in a tokamak
b) Lawson’s criterion

3 - How to confine a plasma: magnetic confinement

a) Particles trajectory 
b) Confinement stability
c) Particles and heat ransport
d) Confinement methods 

4 - How to heat a plasma: heating and current generation

a) Introduction
b) Heating by injection of energetic particles
c) Heating by radio-frequency waves
d) The future: reaching for the stars with the CIMES project

5 - How to control the plasma density: plasma wall interactions

a) Introduction
b) Materials
c) Different configurations
d) Extraction of heat and radiating scenarios
e) Extraction and injection of matter
f) And the wall in all this?

6 - Long pulses: a speciality of Tore Supra

7 - How to measure what we cannot touch: the diagnostics

8 - A common day in the life of Tore Supra

Instructions

The physical phenomena used in thermonuclear fusion are set out in the following section, accessible to anybody having a basic scientific knowledge. This may be read in linear fashion by starting here, and clicking on the arrow   to get to the next page, or by going directly to the chosen chapter of your choice in the index. If you wish to have a more summarised view of the operation of a tokamak, return to basic principles. And if you wish to capture the atmosphere of a major research laboratory, go and have a look at the control room, and experience a common day in the life of a Tore Supra physicist!