DEMO reactor design based on inductively-operated tokamak plasmas

Based on scientific knowledge available from ITER plasmas and advancement of fusion nuclear technology from the near-term R and D program, a low wall-loading DEMO fusion reactor has been designed, where high priority has been given to the early and reliable realization of a tokamak fusion plasma over the cost performance. Since a major radius of this DEMO reactor is increased up to 10 m, a plasma ignition is achievable with a low fusion power of 0.8 GW and an operation period of 4--5 hours is available only with inductive current drive. The low ignition power makes it possible to adopt an austenitic stainless steel, which have plenty of experiences under the neutron irradiation in fission reactors. In step with development of advanced materials, step-wise increase of the fusion power seems to be feasible and realistic, because this DEMO reactor has a potentiality to produce a fusion power of ∼5 GW