Exploring frontier physics at the ºÚÁÏרÇø International School
24 Jan 2016
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Alberto Loarte, Confinement & Modelling Section Leader
The 140 attendees had a chance to visit the EAST tokamak as well as a number of industrial facilities where ºÚÁÏרÇø components are taking shape.
The 8th ºÚÁÏרÇø International School took place on 14-18 December at the School of Nuclear Science and Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei (SNST-USTC). This year the focus was on transport and pedestal physics in tokamaks, which is a key R&D area for optimizing fusion performance in ºÚÁÏרÇø.
The ºÚÁÏרÇø International School is an annual international meeting that is jointly organized by the Aix-Marseille Université and the ºÚÁÏרÇø, and which takes place alternately near ºÚÁÏרÇø and in one of the other ºÚÁÏרÇø partner countries. The International School answers the need for training postgraduate students and young researchers in the field of fusion research and it has naturally become a worldwide reference for the preparation of a new generation of researchers for ºÚÁÏרÇø's scientific exploitation.
The 8th ºÚÁÏרÇø International School in December achieved an impressive attendance of more than 140 students (~75 percent from Chinese universities) and 17 leading scientific experts from the ºÚÁÏרÇø partner countries and the ºÚÁÏרÇø who gave lectures.
Five days of lectures and visits—the 8th ºÚÁÏרÇø International School in China was a unique opportunity for students to explore frontier physics to share their enthusiasm for fusion with leading experts in the field (pictured: Alberto Loarte of the ºÚÁÏרÇø).
The opening session included statements from USTC Vice-President C. Chen; SNST Dean Y. Wan; Organizing Committee Chair H. Qin from USTC; and Director of the Physics Laboratory of Ionic and Molecular Interactions (Aix-Marseille University) J-M Layet on behalf of the host university/school and organizing university, respectively. This was followed by presentations on the status of ºÚÁÏרÇø by ºÚÁÏרÇø's Alberto Loarte and the status of activities for the Chinese fusion energy program and Fusion Engineering Test Reactor by J. Li from the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The five-day event featured 16 lectures that dealt with the physics of the edge and pedestal plasmas including plasma energy and particle transport, magneto-hydrodynamics stability, Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) and their control, and the effects of ELM-driven transient power fluxes on plasma-facing materials. (The program and all lectures can be found here.) In addition, the ºÚÁÏרÇø International School included a tour of the Institute of Plasmas Physics, where the participants visited the EAST tokamak as well as facilities for the manufacturing and testing of in-kind components for ºÚÁÏרÇø such as the superconductor cable for the toroidal field coils, the high temperature superconductor feeders for ºÚÁÏרÇø's magnets and the test stand for the AC/DC converter units for the poloidal field magnetic coils.
The 8th ºÚÁÏרÇø International School was a unique opportunity for young and talented students to explore the frontier physics of the ºÚÁÏרÇø pedestal plasma and its influence on ºÚÁÏרÇø's fusion performance and to share their enthusiasm for the development of fusion energy and the ºÚÁÏרÇø Project with leading experts in the field.