Session CI2B - Plasma Technology for Magnetic Confinement.
INVITED session, Monday afternoon, November 15
Room Chatham C, SCC
Pellet injection is the primary fueling technique planned for central fueling of ITER burning plasmas. Efficient central fueling with D-T is a requirement for achieving high fusion gain and it cannot be achieved with gas fueling. Injection of pellets from the inner wall has been shown on present day tokamaks to provide efficient fueling and is planned for use on ITER [1,2]. Modeling of the fueling deposition from inner wall pellet injection using the Parks ExB drift model [3] shows that pellets have the capability to fuel well inside the separatrix. Gas fueling calculations show very poor fueling efficiency due to the high density and wide scrape off layer. Isotopically mixed D/T pellets can provide efficient tritium fueling that will minimize tritium wall loading when compared to gas puffing. During the ITER EDA the U.S. was responsible for ITER pellet fueling system design and is in good position to resume this role. Currently the performance of the ITER inner wall guide tube design is under test. The results of these tests and their implication for ITER fueling will be discussed. The ITER pellet injection technology requirements and remaining development issues will be presented along with a plan to reach the design goal for employment on ITER.\par \vspace0.25em [1] Lang, P.T., et al., Phys.\ Rev.\ Lett.\ 79, 1478 (1997).\par [2] Baylor, L.R., et al., Phys.\ Plasmas 7, 1878 (2000).\par [3] Parks, P.B., et al., Phys.\ Plasmas 7, 1968 (2000).