Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory PPPL- PPPL-4295 4295 Paradigm Changes in High Temperature Plasma Physics Research and Implications for ITER Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Report Disclaimers Full Legal Disclaimer Trademark Disclaimer PPPL Report A

Abstract Significant high temperature plasma research in both the magnetic and inertial confinement regimes led to the official launching of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project which is aimed at challenging controlled fusion power for human kind. In particular, such an endeavor originated from the fruitful research outcomes from the world wide magnetic confinement devices (primarily based on the Tokamak approach) mainly in advanced countries (US, EU, and Japan). In recent years, all new steady state capable Tokamak devices are operated and/or constructed in Asian countries and incidentally, the majority of the ITER consortium consists of Asian countries. This provides an opportunity to revisit the unresolved essential physics issues and/or extend the understanding of the transient physics to the required steady state operation so that ITER can benefit from these efforts. The core physics of a magnetically confined hot plasma has two essential components; plasma stability and cross-field energy transport physics. Complete understanding of these two areas is critical for the successful operation of ITER and perhaps, Demo reactor construction. In order to have stable high beta plasmas with a sufficiently long confinement time, the physics of an abrupt disruption and sudden deterioration of the energy transport must be understood and conquered. Physics issues associated with transient harmful MHD behavior and turbulence based energy transport are extremely complicated and theoretical understanding needs a clear validation and verification with a new research approach such as a multi-dimensional visualization