Experience of the Association in the Topic of Research and Background Information

Quality and key competencies of the association:

A major player in research, development and innovation, the CEA intervenes in three main fields: Energy, Information and Health Technologies and Defence. Through the diversity of its programs, it pursues two major objectives: to become the leading European technological research body, and to guarantee the continuation of the nuclear deterrence. Its advantage to achieve this is a crossed engineers culture favouring synergies between fundamental research technological innovation; exceptional installations (research reactor, super-computer, large physics instruments, power lasers, etc); finally, real involvement in the industrial and economic fabric. The CEA benefits from strong regional presence and solid partnerships with other research bodies, local institutions and universities. In order to encourage the transfer of knowledge, it attaches particular importance to education and information to the public.

Among a large variety of programs, thermonuclear fusion, which could in the future provide a virtually infinite source of energy, is also at the heart of its research. The EURATOM-CEA Association, located in Cadarache, is thus heavily involved in the international project on the experimental ITER reactor. Cadarache is also the location of several experimental nuclear reactors and laboratories, which represents one of the world’s greatest expertise in nuclear engineering. The staff of the EURATOM-CEA Association is about 350 persons working for Tore Supra as well as around other large projects (ITER, W7-X, JET) in the frame of an international collaborative research. The Tore Supra machine started operation in 1988 and is still pioneering the long duration plasma discharges, with a world record excess of 6 minutes.

The association is actively participating in the next step preparation with an ongoing effort covering a broad spectrum of competencies: superconducting magnet development, plasmafacing components, heating system development, engineering and design of diagnostics, current drive and current profile optimisation, Tokamak system operation and control.

Key competencies relevant for this training

• Overview on all ITER in-vessel components
  

• Engineering aspects of Tokamak operation

• Quality control systems

• CAD – CATIA V5, Tore supra Design Office (8 designers, 6 engineers + subcontracting)

• Experience with thermal, mechanical, thermo-mechanical and thermohydraulic aspects of the finite element simulation 

(ANSYS, CAST-3M codes).

• Quality Management systems and Project Management System

• Remote Handling expertise

• Manufacturing follow-up

Scientific staff involved in this training program:

Lionel Meunier, Louis Doceul, Jean-Pierre Martins, Laurent Jourd’Heuil, Sophie Salasca, Sylvain Madeleine, Christophe Portafaix

List of major infrastructures:

• Tokamak TORE SUPRA

• Articulated Inspection Arm

• SATIR Facility (System Acquisition par Thermography Infra-Rouge)

• Lock-in-CEA

• Electron-beam (FE200) Facility

List of on going EFDA projects and ITER task relevant for this training program

TW6-TPDS-DIADES "Diagnostic Design for ITER"

TW6-TPDS-DIASUP1 “Support of Diagnostic design for ITER”

TW6-TDS-QA “Support in the Development of the QA System for the ITER EU Domestic Agency and Implementation

of a Quality Assurance Program in the European Fusion Associations for ITER-relevant Activities”

TW6-TPHI-ICRFCOORD2 “Coordination of ITER ICRF Antenna design and R&D activities

TW6-TPHI-ICHDESREW “Support tasks to the ITER ICRH antenna”

Quality and key competences of the association:

FZK is a large research centre with 3,500 staff and a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. It is conducting R&D in the Helmholtz Research Areas Energy, Earth and Environment, Structure of Matter, Key Technologies, and Health. Within the Energy Research Area, FZK is a EURATOM-Association running a dedicated program on nuclear fusion with 230 staff, focussing on technology aspects for ITER and future power reactors. This encompasses the development, design and testing of superconducting magnets and current leads, of components of the inner deuterium-tritium fuel cycle and vacuum systems and their integration, of gyrotrons and microwave launchers for plasma heating and stabilisation, of test blanket module systems (i.e., the European He cooled Pebble Bed TBM concept) and the respective ITER port plug, of low activation structural materials (Eurofer, Eurofer ODS), of blanket and divertor systems for DEMO, and also neutronics and safety studies for ITER and beyond, as well as contributions to the development of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility IFMIF. In particular, FZK is leading two consortia of EURATOM associations that are preparing to provide the entire engineering for the ECRH Upper Launcher Port Plug as well as for the European Test Blanket Module Systems and port plug in ITER.

Key competences relevant for this training:

• Experience with thermal, mechanical, thermo-mechanical and thermohydraulic aspects of the finite element simulation (ANSYS, StarCD, Abaqus).

• Technological aspects of materials for plasma-facing components

• Experience with thermo-hydraulic experimental measurement devices

• Experience in manufacturing of mock ups (e.g. BU CP alternative design incl. EB welding and electrical discharge machining)

• Experience in operation of Helium circuits (HEBLO)

• Experience in dimensioning and planning of Helium circuits (HELOKA)

• CAD office with currently ~35 CATIA-users including connection to PDM-system smarteam

• Project management

• Overview on all ITER in-vessel components

• Hands on experiments on different fusion related areas

• Expertise in material science and engineering

• Lectures at university and summer schools

Scientific staff involved in this training program:

ECRH: G. Gantenbein, R. Heidinger, A. Meier, T A.Scherer, P. Spaeh, D. Strauss

HCPB-TBM: L. Boccaccini, H. Neuberger, T. Ihli, R. Roccella

List of major relevant infrastructures:

• ECRH launcher handling test facility (under construction – partially in operation)

• Gyrotron test stand

• TLK - Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe

• TOSKA - cryogenic test facility for superconducting fusion magnets

• TIMO-2 – cryogenic test facility for fusion vacuum systems

• Fusion Materials Laboratory – hot cells

• FBI – cryogenic materials test laboratory

• Beryllium facility

• HEBLO – high temperature, high pressure helium loop (small scale)

• HELOKA – high temperature, high pressure helium loop (large scale - under construction)

List of ongoing EFDA projects and ITER tasks relevant for this training program

TW6-TPHE-ECHULA “ECH upper launcher for ITER”

TW5-TTBB-001-D02 Finalization of detailed design of prototypical HCPB-TBM mock- ups

TW5-TTBB-001-D09 Experimental verification of pebbles filling in the HCPB- TBM

TW5-TTBB-001-D10 FW channel mock (HETRA-experiment)

TW6-TTBB-001-D03 HCPB TBM design and integration analysis

Quality and key competencies of the association:

The Association is a collaboration between EURATOM from one side and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) on the other side. On the Hungarian side the leadership of the Association has been assigned to the KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics (KFKI-RMKI), which performs most of the activity in fusion physics research.

Besides KFKI-RMKI several other institutions are participating in the fusion program: the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), the Széchenyi University in Győr and the KFKI Research Institute for Atomic Energy (KFKI AEKI). Hungarian plasma physicists are present with experiments, modelling and simulation work at nearly all of the leading European fusion experiments (JET, ASDEX Upgrade, TEXTOR, TCV, MAST and CASTOR). Thanks to the grant support of National Office for Research and Technology the engineering background has improved in the past two years enormously: the Association has a 12-strong fusion engineering group gradually gaining experience at leading fusion devices and participates in several development projects of large present and future fusion experiments: JET, Wendelstein 7-X and ITER. On JET the Association is the project leader of the Li-beam diagnostic upgrade and participates in the installation of a new pellet camera.

For Wendelstein 7-X a 10-camera video diagnostic system is being developed, while for ITER the Test Blanket Module (TBM) integration, and its Helium gas cooling system is being developed. In support of the conceptual studies of the DEMO fusion reactor the remote handling concept of the divertor and the blanket is studied as well as possible direct Hydrogen production schemes and energy storage in molten salt beds.

The activities are supported by Public Information work and provision of remote collaboration techniques.

Key competencies relevant for this training

• CAD (Catia V5) of fusion device components - (KFKI-RMKI)

• Tokamak in-vessel diagnostic system development - (KFKI-RMKI)

• Vacuum technology experience - (KFKI-RMKI, BME-MM)

• Thermohydraulics, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFX) - (BME-NTI)

• Thermomechanics (BME-MM)

• Structural, thermal simulations (ANSYS) - (KFKI-RMKI, BME-MM)

• Radiation protection - (BME-NTI)

• Material sciences - (KFKI-AEKI)

• Project management

Scientific staff involved in this training program:

Tétény Baross, Ottó Bede, Gábor Grunda, Botond Mészáros, Dániel Nagy, Sándor Récsei, János Sárközi

List of major infrastructures:

• Fusion Diagnostics Laboratory (KFKI-RMKI)

• Nuclear Training Reactor (BME-NTI)

• Vibration Laboratory (BME-MM)

• Budapest Research Reactor (KFKI-AEKI)

List of on going EFDA projects and ITER task relevant for this training program

• TW6-TPDS-DIADES – Participation in European diagnostics for ITER:

• PP21 Bolometers and Pressure Gauges: Tomography assessment of bolometer array, conceptual engineering design and thermal simulation of divertor bolometer cameras.
  

• PP11 Radial Neutron Camera and Equatorial Visible/Ir Wide-Angle Viewing System: Conceptual engineering design, neutral streaming calculation and thermal analysis of front mirror and concept of camera system.

• PP12 Core-Plasma Lidar Thomson Scattering: Conceptual engineering design and thermal analysis of optical labyrinth and the mirror mountings

• PP2 Core-Plasma Charge-Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy: Conceptual engineering design and thermal analysis of the retractable tube concept of the front mirror.
  

• TW6-TRP-004-D1b – DEMO Divertor Maintenance
  

• TW6-TTBB-001-D4 – HCPB TBM design, integration and analysis

Quality and key competencies of the association:

FZJ is a large (> 4000 employees) and multidisciplinary research centre, comprising various institutes having different important competences such as fusion plasma physics and diagnostics, material research, mechanical engineering, neutronics, nuclear fission and supercomputing. Moreover, the FZJ capabilities are strengthened by the TEC (Trilateral Euregio Cluster) collaboration, in which the FZJ, FOM and ERM/KMS associations from Germany, Netherlands and Belgium are working together on the fore-front of fusion plasma physics.

FZJ is embedded into a network of universities located in the neighbourhood of Jülich, which are closely related to FZJ via common professorships and through various programs funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG). This provides unique links from FZJ to university education and lectures, with many PhD students working in FZJ and with excellent possibilities for FZJ to recruit young engineers. Finally, FZJ and TEC have a long history of successful working on projects for ITER relevant diagnostics, so that a broad and outstanding physics and engineering expertise is available here. These factors make FZJ the ideal participant within this training program.

List of major infrastructures:

Running fusion experiment

TEXTOR; Medium-sized limiter tokamak, good access for diagnostic testing

Irradiation sources

JUDITH; High power electron beam irradiation facility for material testing for fusion experiments

MARION; High power neutral particle beam irradiation facility for material testing for fusion experiments

Manufacturing facilities

ZAT; Central workshop of FZJ, Mechanical manufacturing (large machines …), Joining technology (special welding …)