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review article

Integrated operation scenarios: Chapter 6 of the special issue: on the path to tokamak burning plasma operation

Na, Yong Su
•
Schuster, Eugenio
•
Budny, Robert V.
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September 1, 2025
Nuclear Fusion

Here we report the progress of the development and optimization of operational scenarios for ITER and beyond, focusing upon baseline, hybrid, and steady-state scenarios since 2007. This includes advancements made by the integrated operation scenarios (IOS) topical group of the international tokamak physical activity as well as contributions from the broader tokamak community. The key area of research involves developing IOSs that encompass tokamak physics, operation, and technology by utilizing integrated modeling and control strategies. This requires leveraging available actuators to simultaneously control plasma position and shape, MHD activities that could lead to disruptions, transport, plasma-wall interaction and power exhaust, fuel cycle, fusion burn, and tritium breeding. The control extends from the plasma initiation phase, through the current ramp-up, flattop, start and end of the fusion burn, and current ramp-down, to the plasma termination phase. A review of the currently developed scenarios and modeling is provided in terms of (i) optimizing plasma initiation in ITER, (ii) preparing for the low activation phase to fully commission all tokamak systems and establish and validate physics and scenario conditions in preparation for deuterim-tritium (DT) operation, (iii) developing and preparing baseline and hybrid scenarios to demonstrate the feasibility of achieving these regimes within device constraints, (iv) exploring steady-state scenarios to meet ITER’s steady-state goals, (v) evaluating and preparing actuators for ITER, (vi) developing integrated control solutions using shared actuators. The most notable achievements include; (i) the development of ITER demonstration discharges by matching various dimensionless parameters, (ii) the development of scenarios in an ITER-like tungsten environment and DT operation, and (iii) the development of scenarios in superconducting tokamaks, enabling long-pulse operations with similar coil constraints to ITER. Along with these significant achievements, outstanding issues and recommendations for further research and development are provided. Importantly, this study goes beyond simply updating the ITER Physics Basis; it carries profound implications for the broader field of burning plasma research, offering valuable insights and guidance for the next generation of fusion experiments and devices.

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Type
review article
DOI
10.1088/1741-4326/ade79f
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-105013038263

Author(s)
Na, Yong Su

Seoul National University

Schuster, Eugenio

Lehigh University

Budny, Robert V.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

Garofalo, Andrea M.

General Atomics

Hahn, Sang Hee

Korea Institute of Fusion Energy

Kim, Hyun Tae

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Koechl, Florian

ITER

Polevoi, Alexei R.

ITER

Barr, Jayson

General Atomics

Baruzzo, Matteo

Ente Per Le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e l'Ambiente

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Corporate authors
ITPA Integrated Operation Scenario topical group
Date Issued

2025-09-01

Publisher

IOP Publishing Ltd

Published in
Nuclear Fusion
Volume

65

Issue

9

Article Number

093001

Subjects

burning plasma

•

integrated modeling

•

ITER

•

ITPA

•

operation scenario

•

tokamak control

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
SPC-TCV  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

Korean Ministry of Science and ICT

National Research Foundation of Korea

Joseph Snipes

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Available on Infoscience
August 25, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/253420
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