2004 Progress Report

Fusion research is undertaken all over the world with the objective of realising an environmentally responsible source of energy with essentially unlimited and widely distributed fuel reserves. The results of the worldwide efforts made in recent years are now embodied in ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, designed to produce at least 500 MW of fusion power with a power gain of ten. ITER will test for the first time the interaction of fusion plasma physics with power station technology. In this international framework, during 2004 Fusion Technical and Scientific Unit of ENEA obtained important results in several keys areas. At the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade the lower hybrid microwave system was fully exploited to study the generation and control of the plasma current, and the electron cyclotron heating system reached full power (1.5 MW). With the simultaneous injection of the two waves, good energy confinement regimes with internal transport barriers were obtained at the highest plasma densities ever achieved. Advanced scenario regimes were also addressed in the activities of ENEA at JET. The engineering design of the IGNITOR machine was finalised, and significant progress was made in understanding the plasma physics regimes. Among the technology activities, the qualification of the deposition process of a copper liner on carbon fibre composite (CFC) hollow tiles may be mentioned as the most important achievement. This innovative pre brazed casting process is a competitive candidate for the fabrication of the CFCbased ITER divertor components. ENEA participated in the European activity for the definition and production on an industrial scale of an advanced Nb3Sn strand for the ITER superconducting central solenoid and toroidal field coils. Contributions were also made to the design of the final conductor layout and the characterisation tests. Inertial fusion studies continued along the previous lines, namely, the study of the implosion dynamics of targets in different conditions in the ABC laser and the development of a diode sub-array as a pumping system