NE (NEEP) 903: Special Topics-Plasma Physics

Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics

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NE (NEEP) 903 - Special Topics-Plasma Physics

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NE 903: Special Topics-Plasma Physics, Spring 2007 (Sovinec), formerly Course Homepage of Sovinec

NE 903: Special Topics-Plasma Physics, Fall 2005 (Whyte), formerly Course Homepage of Whyte

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Catalog Description: 903 Special Topics-Plasma Physics. 03cr. P: NEEP or ECE or Physics 724 or cons inst.
Course Prerequisite(s)

See catalog description above.
Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills

It is highly recommended that students are familiar with basic plasma and fusion physics.
NEEP 525, 527, 536 and the 700 level plasma courses are examples of appropriate classes to take beforehand
Speak to the instructors if you have any questions.
Textbook(s) and/or other required material

Reading material will be almost entirely taken from scientific literature. Electronic journal articles will be made available for students on the e-Cow class web-site.
Additional resources (available from library or instructors):
Principles of Fusion Energy A.A. Harms, K.F. Schoepf, G. H. Miley, D.R. Kingdon
The Plasma Boundary of Magnetic Fusion Devices P.C. Stangeby
Burning Plasma: Bringing a Star to Earth National Research Council
Fusion: Volume 1, Magnetic Confinement, Edward Teller Ed.
Fusion : an introduction to the physics and technology of magnetic confinement fusion, W. M. Stacey
Plasma Physics: An Introductory Course R. O. Dendy Ed.
Tokamak, J. Wesson
Course objectives

ITER is a large tokamak experiment being built in France with international and US cooperation. ITER uses deuterium-tritium fuel and will create the first magnetically confined burning plasma with energy amplification Q=10. In order to ensure plasma burn, the baseline ITER design is necessarily conservative in terms of normalized performance (e.g. low normalized plasma pressure, low bootstrap fraction). Previous fusion reactor studies, such at ARIES-AT, and present experiments have highlighted the economic attractiveness of the Advanced Tokamak (AT) approach as a fusion reactor. Yet questions remain about how we will evolve present experiments towards this ultimate energy production goal for fusion.
The goals for the students through this course can be summarized as the following: 1. Become well-versed in the physics and technological requirements for burning plasmas (BP) through study and reporting of the scientific literature on ITER. 2. Become familiar with present Advanced Tokamak research result from present experiments, 3. Understand the advantages and physics requirements that lead toward the Advanced Tokamak (AT) as an attractive fusion energy source by examination of the ARIES-AT design. 4. Evaluate the impact of the chosen fusion fuel cycle for a BP experiment and/or a fusion reactor. 5. Identify key physics questions toward AT/BP experiments and reactors that cannot be answered by ITER. 6. Provide preliminary design choices, either in the use of ITER or for an additional intermediate experiment, that would provide answers to critical AT questions.
The course is presented as a seminar class. Therefore, emphasis will be given on reading, assimilation and application of present literature on BP and AT topics. Students will be expected to rapporteur their finding to the class at regular intervals through the course, with the ultimate goal of bringing the entire class to better understanding of the wide-ranging physic and technological topics involved.
Topics covered

Please consult the homepage for the complete syllabus
Review of burning plasma requirements Initial ITER research assignments
Review of ITER. ITER-FEAT basic design features
ITER: Transport ITER: MHD *
ITER: Heating, Current Drive ITER: Particle and Power Handling
Advanced Tokamak: principle concepts AT research assignments
ARIES-AT assignments Present AT research
Overview of ARIES-AT reactor design
ARIES-AT: Confinement, Stability, Profile Control
ARIES-AT: Current Drive, Power Handling
ARIES-AT: Blankets, Economics
Fusion fuel cycles: Implications to BP/AT design and operation.
Identification of key BP/AT issues. AT capabilities of ITER.
Final research topics assigned on AT/BP experiment.
Group discussions on integration and technological compatibility of ongoing AT/BP experiment design options. Progress reports on final assignments.
Final rapporteur sessions on AT/BP topics.
Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives and outcomes: This course primarily serves students in the department. The information below describes how the course contributes to the undergraduate program objectives.
NEEP 903 is an advanced graduate level course.
Assessment of student progress toward course objectives

Rapporteur and writing assignments will be given throughout the semester. These will be a mixture of personal and group assignments, depending on the technical difficulty of the problems.
Grades will be mostly evaluated on the student�s demonstrated technical competence on research topics rapporteured. In addition, the students will be evaluated on the clarity of their written and oral presentations. No exams will be given.
We encourage discussion and efforts with other students and instructors on topics of interest. Our desire is to create a highly collaborative environment for stimulating discussions on the wide-range of research topics that we will cover.
Students may ask the instructor (Whyte) for their relative standing in the class and nominal grade standing at any time through the semester.
Person(s) who prepared this description

Dennis G. Whyte

Copyright 2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: 04-Aug-2007
Date created: 29-Oct-1999
Content by: neep@engr.wisc.edu
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