Open AccessOverview of the SPARC physics basis towards the exploration of burning-plasma regimes in high-field, compact tokamaks
Author(s) -
P. Rodriguez-Fernandez,
A. J. Creely,
M. Greenwald,
D. Brunner,
S. Ballinger,
C. Chrobak,
D. Garnier,
R. Granetz,
Zachary Hartwig,
Nathan Howard,
J.W. Hughes,
J. Irby,
V.A. Izzo,
Adam Kuang,
Y. Lin,
E. Marmar,
R. Mumgaard,
Cristina Rea,
M.L. Reinke,
V. Riccardo,
J. E. Rice,
Steven D. Scott,
Brandon Sorbom,
J. Stillerman,
R. Sweeney,
R. A. Tinguely,
D.G. Whyte,
J. C. Wright,
Dina Yuryev
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
nuclear fusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.774
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1741-4326
pISSN - 0029-5515
DOI - 10.1088/1741-4326/ac1654
Subject(s) - tokamak , plasma , nuclear engineering , fusion power , physics , beta (programming language) , field (mathematics) , nuclear fusion , aerospace engineering , nuclear physics , computational physics , engineering physics , computer science , engineering , mathematics , pure mathematics , programming language
The SPARC tokamak project, currently in engineering design, aims to achieve breakeven and burning plasma conditions in a compact device, thanks to new developments in high-temperature superconductor technology. With a magnetic field of 12.2 T on axis and 8.7 MA of plasma current, SPARC is predicted to produce 140 MW of fusion power with a plasma gain of Q ≈ 11, providing ample margin with respect to its mission of Q > 2. All tokamak systems are being designed to produce this landmark plasma discharge, thus enabling the study of burning plasma physics and tokamak operations in reactor relevant conditions to pave the way for the design and construction of a compact, high-field fusion power plant. Construction of SPARC is planned to begin by mid-2021.