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Fusion on BBC Radio 4

09/03/2010 00:00:00

BBC Radio 4's environmental series 'Costing the Earth' has taken a look at the progress and prospects for fusion.

The 'Fusion future' episode includes interviews with CCFE scientists Steve Cowley and Marc Beurskens as well as EFDA's Associate Leader for JET, Francesco Romanelli.

The programme can now be found on the BBC website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00r5xfk

The view from China

19/02/2010 00:00:00

Leading Chinese fusion scientist Professor Jiangang Li visited CCFE in early February to discuss closer partnerships between researchers in China and Europe.

China sees fusion as one of the best long-term options for meeting its increasing energy demands. Professor Li – Vice-Director of the Hefei Institute for Physical Sciences – described how China is stepping up its fusion programme and aiming to radically cut timescales for getting fusion power on to the grid.

'To me, 50 years is too long. Even 20 years is too long,' he explained. 'We should build...an early DEMO (demonstration powerplant) which doesn't need steady state operation for 10-20 years and doesn't need a gigawatt of electricity.'

Hefei is the site of the EAST tokamak, one of the world's newest magnetic fusion experiments, designed to test superconducting magnet technology ahead of ITER's operation.

'EAST's main scientific mission is to establish a solid basis for a steady-state or long pulse operating machine for ITER or DEMO,' said Professor Li. 'We have been operating EAST since 2006 and have had very good shots.'

Chinese and European fusion scientists have been working together for many years but Professor Li hopes to enhance these collaborations:

'Fusion is not a business for one country, it is a business for all of us. So by close collaborations we can get the benefit for both sides,' he said.

Professor Li concluded: 'The energy issue is long term, so you cannot sort out all the problems in one or two years. But if you do not do it now, it will not happen even 50 years later.'

View our video interview with Professor Jiangang Li here.

Research Councils endorse CCFE fusion programme

18/02/2010 00:00:00

The UK Research Councils – EPSRC and STFC – recently held a recent independent review of UK fusion strategy. The aim of the review was to develop a long-term UK vision for fusion in an international context.

The findings of the review panel chaired by Professor Keith Burnett, and the strategy document 'A 20-year Vision for the UK Contribution to Fusion as an Energy Source' have now been issued at: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/Content/News/UKFusionEnergyStrategy.htm

Among the key points:

The Research Councils reiterated their support for fusion research. 'The potential of fusion energy to contribute as a major component of the future global energy system is sufficiently large that it should be pursued in the UK; this is an area of international excellence in terms of research and skilled people in the UK which is contributing to a global challenge. It needs continued funding for the long term, even when difficult financial choices are being made'.
EPSRC will develop a long-term funding mechanism for magnetic confinement fusion, including support for the proposed upgrade of the MAST device at Culham. 'Through an upgraded MAST, the UK can play a leading role in the development of a Component Test Facility which may be important in reducing the risk for construction of the fusion demonstration reactor (DEMO), the step following ITER.'
EPSRC will also seek agreement with EURATOM on long-term funding for JET, recognising its 'essential role in preparation for ITER'.
The high standard of the CCFE programme was recognised. 'The UK has played an internationally leading role (in fusion development)...this has included the operation and exploitation of the world's leading fusion facility, JET, at the CCFE and the development of the spherical tokamak approach. UK expertise in tokamak operations, engineering, and fusion physics...will be essential to the success of ITER. This strength in facility operation is complemented by a leading experimental and theory programme, much of which is carried out in collaboration with universities and international partners.'

Oxfordshire Science Festival 2010

17/02/2010 00:00:00

'Question today, discover tomorrow' at the 2010 Oxfordshire Science Festival.

The 2009 Oxfordshire Science Festival was a great success and this year's is set to be even bigger and better: over one hundred science-themed events will be taking place across the County from 6-21 March. Culham Centre for Fusion Energy is once again a Festival partner along with many local scientific organisations.

The Festival opens with an open-air science fair on Saturday 6 March that will take over half of Broad Street in Oxford. 'Science in Your World' kicks off at noon and carries on until 5.30pm, and CCFE staff will be there with a stall at the launch event with interactive acitivities to demonstrate fusion-related science. If you want to see how much science impacts on your life and have a go at hands-on science, then this is the place to be, and you can even take part in an attempt to break the world record for the longest human neurone chain.

All the events throughout the fortnight are listed in the Festival brochure, which is available on the website:
http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.co.uk

Innovation on the menu at business breakfast

05/02/2010 00:00:00

Science Vale UK's breakfast seminar at Culham Science Centre on Wednesday 3 February attracted 70 delegates from Oxfordshire's business community.

The seminar was part of a series of networking events organised by the Science Vale UK partnership, which has recently been launched to promote southern Oxfordshire as a location for science and innovation business.

Keynote speaker was Robert Swerling, Google's New Business Development Principal. He talked about Google's working ethos, including their ‘nine principles of innovation'.

Other speakers included Steven Cowley and Steve Moss from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at Culham; and representatives from Business Link UK, South East Business Innovation & Growth and UK Trade & Investment.

The event was a great opportunity for businesspeople from local science and innovation-based businesses to meet and make new contacts.

Steven Cowley (Chairman of the Science Vale UK partnership) told delegates:

'The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority has been a big part of science in south Oxfordshire since the 1950s. Culham is a focus for business, technology and innovation. It is a place where businesses thrive, and we find it helpful to have innovation going on around us, and to have companies at Culham contributing to the fusion programme. We want to help drive forward a strong, vibrant business community in this region.'

More information on Science Vale UK at: www.sciencevale.com.

Dr William Morris appointed CCFE Chief Scientist

01/02/2010 00:00:00

Dr William Morris has been appointed Chief Scientist at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. In this role, he will have responsibility for providing scientific advice to the Executive, initiating new research areas, assessing the programme and enhancing CCFE’s scientific impact.

Dr Morris has spent his entire career in fusion research after a physics degree at the University of Oxford. He made wide ranging physics contributions to the TOSCA, DITE and COMPASS experiments at Culham, to JET and to the PBX and TFTR devices at Princeton University. He led preparatory studies and the physics proposal for the MAST tokamak before becoming head of Culham’s Experiments Department in 1998. More recently, he co-ordinated initial Culham work on ITER diagnostics. Dr Morris has had many roles in EU fusion programme and project committees, starting with the JET Scientific Council, and he is currently an ad personam member of the EFDA Science and Technology Advisory Committee.

Science Vale UK business breakfast at Culham

25/01/2010 00:00:00

Google's New Business Development Principal Robert Swerling will talk about innovation at a Science Vale UK business breakfast event at Culham Science Centre on Wednesday 3 February.

Businesses in the area are invited to register at http://www.sciencevale.com/. Those attending the event will also hear from Business Link and the Oxfordshire Innovation and Growth Team about support available to businesses from the Government, as well as hearing about the aims of the Science Vale UK Partnership.

Robert Swerling said: 'It's great to have the opportunity to engage with businesses in southern Oxfordshire. It is a centre for world-leading science and innovation and has some of the best brains on the planet. I look forward to exchanging ideas and learning from the people working in this remarkable environment.'

Head of CCFE, Professor Steven Cowley, is chairman of the Science Vale UK Partnership. He said: 'I hope businesses will come and take part in the event. Science and innovation create opportunities for all and we want to share our success and give people in Oxfordshire something to build upon.'

Science Vale UK aims to promote the interests of the southern Oxfordshire area, in particular the business and enterprise community in partnership with the three main employment centres in the area. Partners include the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, MEPC Milton Park, the South East England Development Agency and both District and County Councils.

APS honour for Jack Connor

22/01/2010 00:00:00

CCFE scientist Dr Jack Connor has been chosen as an Outstanding Referee by journal editors at the American Physical Society.

The Outstanding Referee programme recognises scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in APS journals. The programme annually selects about 150 of the roughly 45,000 currently active referees. Editors select the honorees based on the quality, number, and timeliness of their reports.

Dr Connor is a former manager of the UK's fusion theory programme and is recognised as one of the leading theoretical physicists in the fusion research field.

More at: http://publish.aps.org/OutstandingReferees

Frank Briscoe appointed interim Director at Fusion for Energy

11/01/2010 00:00:00

Culham's former Operations Director Dr Frank Briscoe has become Fusion for Energy's Director ad interim.

Fusion for Energy (F4E) is the agency that provides the European contributions to the ITER international fusion energy project and the Broader Approach fusion agreement with Japan. F4E has an annual budget of around €400 million and around 200 technical, scientific and administrative staff at its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain.

Dr Briscoe spent 34 years at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, and for the last 12 of those years he was responsible for Authority fusion activities including operation of the JET and MAST facilities.

After leaving Culham in 2008, Dr Briscoe led an independent assessment of the cost estimates of the ITER Organization for the construction of ITER.

The outgoing F4E Director, Dr Didier Gambier, is taking up a new position with the European Commission in Brussels.

MAST update - Winter 2009/10

11/01/2010 00:00:00

MAST status

MAST's upgraded Thomson scattering system, part-funded by the University of York, has been used to measure magnetic island structures in the plasma and to measure the evolution of temperature and density profiles with high resolution during pellet ablation. These applications utilise a smart triggering system, developed by Graham Naylor, which allows the lasers to be synchronized to plasma events.

The disruption mitigation system, which utilises a fast valve on loan from FZJ Julich (pictured), has been commissioned and first experiments have been carried out by Andrew Thornton (University of York). Divertor heat loads were reduced significantly compared with unmitigated disruptions.

Proof-of-principle measurements of Fast Ion D-alpha (FIDA) emission were obtained with promising results and a dedicated system will now be developed. This project, which will be led by Clive Michael, is a priority task in the EFDA work programme.

ITER-shaped single null plasmas, centred on the vessel mid-plane, have been established in MAST for the first time, by reconfiguring the PF system. Further optimisation of these scenarios will be undertaken in 2010 when they will be deployed for ELM control studies.

The shielding for the new collimated neutron emission diagnostic (EFDA Task with Uppsala University) has been assembled and a trial installation was carried out.

The present MAST campaign will be extended until the end of April 2010 when a major engineering break will take place. During the break additional internal ELM coils and the 2D Beam Emission Spectroscopy system being developed by RMKI Hungary will be installed.

Conferences and meetings

Hendrik Meyer and Martin Valovic attended the 12th International Meeting on ‘H-mode Physics & Transport Barriers' at Princeton where they presented posters on pedestal studies with co- and counter-NBI and collisionality scaling of H-mode confinement respectively.

Brian Lloyd, Neil Conway and David Keeling delivered presentations at the International ST Workshop in Madison, October 22-24.

Simon Pinches and Clive Michael delivered MAST presentations at the APS DPP Meeting in Atlanta 2-6 November.

Vladimir Shevchenko delivered an invited talk at the JSPF conference in Kyoto, Japan. He also gave a series of lectures to students at the University of Tokyo in early December.

Operations to resume on Monday 11 January

10/01/2010 00:00:00

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority operations will resume on Monday 11 January. Snow and ice has been cleared from the Culham site, and staff and contractors should report to work as normal.

CCFE donation for Abingdon Hospital

05/01/2010 00:00:00

Abingdon Hospital's Day Centre has been able to purchase new equipment thanks to a donation from CCFE's Sponsorship Fund.

The facility provides medical day care for elderly patients and is able to offer specialised additional equipment through fundraising events and sponsorship. The donation from CCFE was used to purchase a number of pulse oximeters, which monitor the blood oxygen levels of patients.

Pictured are members of the Abingdon Community Hospital League of Friends, with staff nurse Elizabeth Whitehead demonstrating the pulse oximeters.

Steven Cowley at TED Global

23/12/2009 00:00:00

Head of CCFE Professor Steven Cowley's talk on fusion at the TED Global event earlier this year is now online.

TED Global is an international festival of ideas held annually in Oxford, UK, featuring a diverse range of 'thinkers and doers' from around the world.

The 2009 event was themed 'The substance of things not seen' and speakers included UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Stephen Fry, Alain de Botton and Marcus de Sautoy.

Watch Professor Cowley's appearance at TED Global, and find links to over 500 other fascinating talks, on the TED website.

Fusion at the Copenhagen climate summit

16/12/2009 00:00:00

Former UK Government Chief Scientist Sir David King yesterday addressed an event at the UN Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen on the potential of fusion energy.

As delegates from around the world negotiate a climate agreement, attention is also focused on new technologies that can be deployed to create a low-carbon economy. Sir David King spoke at a European Union meeting on EU research initiatives involving low-carbon energy technologies, including the ITER fusion project.

Sir David King has been an advocate of fusion for some time, having chaired a review of the international research and development programme which confirmed the feasibility of energy production from fusion.

See our video interview with Sir David King on fusion's role in a low-carbon future.

CCFE serves up donation for table tennis club

07/12/2009 00:00:00

Grove Table Tennis Club recently received a donation from CCFE's Sponsorship Fund toward the cost of a new table. The funds allowed the purchase of a third table to accommodate new members who have joined the club in the last six months.

“It is really good to see so many young people attending and playing with those who are many years their senior; it's a great example of how a local community can work together,” said Rita Hetherington, Club Chairman. “I would like to thank CCFE for their contribution towards our third table which significantly improves our facilities.”

CCFE's Susan Hayward is pictured with members of Grove Table Tennis Club.

PhD event a success

02/12/2009 00:00:00

On 25 November CCFE hosted an open day for over 80 students interested in fusion PhDs.

Representatives from 14 UK universities outlined postgraduate opportunities in plasma physics, materials science and fusion engineering, and the students toured the JET and MAST experiments.

Each year Culham links up with leading universities to offer PhDs in a range of study areas. Details of PhD opportunities for October 2010 will be posted at http://www.ccfe.ac.uk/phd.aspx as they arise.

New light being shed on the secrets of fusion plasmas

30/11/2009 00:00:00

A £2million upgrade to the MAST tokamak's Thomson scattering laser diagnostic will give UK physicists unprecedented insights into the behaviour of fusion plasmas.

The MAST experiment, located at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) in Oxfordshire, now has the world's most advanced system for recording the plasma temperature and density profiles, aiding research into nuclear fusion as a future energy source. The upgrade, part-funded (£400,000) by the University of York and the Northern Way collaboration of Regional Development Agencies, was completed in September 2009 and the diagnostic is already providing data exceeding its design specifications.

Thomson scattering is used to obtain local measurements of electron temperature and density inside the hot plasma – which can reach over 20 million degrees Celsius in MAST – by measuring the scattering of light from laser beams fired into the plasma. The upgrade has increased the number of measurements that can be made during a MAST plasma pulse by doubling the amount of lasers used to eight. This allows over 150 separate time points to be captured during the lifetime of a plasma, from 130 different locations. A triggering device can synchronise lasers to the exact time of specific ‘events' during the pulse, such as the formation of the plasma or the injection of fuel pellets.

A better understanding of the processes happening in plasmas will help to improve the performance of future fusion devices such as ITER, the industrial-scale tokamak being built at Cadarache, France. The MAST Thomson scattering diagnostic will give researchers an extremely detailed view of the evolution of the plasma, as CCFE project leader Dr Mike Walsh explains:

“We expect the system to throw up new physics and allow us to observe effects we have never been able to see in plasmas before,” says Walsh. “We can also get a more accurate picture of occurrences we already know about; for example, the formation of ‘magnetic islands' that affect confinement of the plasma and reduce fusion energy output.”

Researchers from the University of York's Plasma Physics and Fusion Group, in collaboration with CCFE, will exploit the upgraded system to confirm theoretical principles of plasma behaviour. They will run experiments on MAST direct from York, using a new remote control room recently installed at the university. Professor Howard Wilson of the University of York says:

“It is early days, and there is still work to be done to interpret the first data, but already this world-leading Thomson system is revealing tantalising glimpses of plasma physics phenomena in unprecedented detail.”

The MAST upgrade demonstrates how far plasma diagnostic techniques have advanced since the pioneering Thomson scattering measurements by Culham scientists 40 years ago, which confirmed the performance of the Soviet Union's T-3 tokamak – leading fusion researchers around the world to adopt the tokamak concept. Dr Mike Forrest, who was a member of the Culham team that travelled to the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow in 1969, comments:

“In 1969 we made great advances with a system that could only give one measurement of temperature at one position in the plasma. At MAST today, 30,000 measurements can be generated in one pulse, so Culham is still leading the way in laser scattering techniques 40 years on.”

JET begins engineering shutdown

23/11/2009 00:00:00

The Joint European Torus (JET) device, located at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, has begun a 15-month refit to enhance its already unique role in the development of fusion energy.

JET, which is operated by CCFE on behalf of its European partners under the European Fusion Development Agreement, will be upgraded with key systems to support preparations for ITER, the next-step international fusion project being built at Cadarache, France.

Chief among the upgrades is a new inner wall to test the mix of materials that will be used in ITER. JET's diagnostic and control capabilities will also be strengthened and its heating power increased by around 50%.

The shutdown period will be followed by deuterium and tritium experiments in which JET anticipates going beyond previously achieved results of generated fusion energy.

Find out more, and follow progress in a weekly shutdown report, on the EFDA-JET website: www.jet.efda.org.

CCFE at American Physical Society meeting

13/11/2009 00:00:00

CCFE was well represented at the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics' annual meeting in Atlanta earlier this month.

Dr Simon Pinches gave an overview of recent results from MAST, Dr Clive Michael presented results from MAST's new Motional Stark Effect system, Dr Wojtek Fundamenski presented power and particle exhaust results from JET and Dr Clive Challis presented results of hybrid experiments on DIII-D and JET. CCFE's Dr Richard Dendy was on the programme committee for the meeting, which is the United States' most important fusion conference of the year.

Dr Roy Bickerton

11/11/2009 00:00:00

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Dr R J (Roy) Bickerton died suddenly at the age of 82 at his home in Cumnor, Oxfordshire on Friday 6 November.

After a D Phil at the Clarendon Laboratory, Roy joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell Laboratory, where he worked with the team on the ZETA fusion experiment. In 1962 he made the move to the new Culham Laboratory, where in 1968 he was appointed Head of Experimental Division A and a member of the Culham Laboratory Management Committee. After the inauguration of JET in 1979 Roy was appointed its Scientific Director in 1980 and then Deputy Director in 1985, a post he held until his retirement in November 1988. A few years were then spent at the Fusion Centre in Austin, Texas. Roy was a regular visitor to Culham seminars in his retirement. He will be missed not only by his friends but by the international fusion community.

Launch of Culham Centre for Fusion Energy

31/10/2009 00:00:00

From 31 October 2009, the UK's home of fusion research has a new name: the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE).

The laboratory, based at Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire, was previously known as UKAEA Culham, and has been the site of the UK fusion programme since opening in 1960. It also operates the JET (Joint European Torus) experiment on behalf of its European research partners.

The launch of CCFE is part of wider organisational changes at its parent body, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, whose nuclear decommissioning sector has been sold to Babcock International. The Authority has taken the opportunity to rebrand its fusion operation, giving it a clearer identity that reflects its mission.

“This is a strong identity that matches our status as one of the world's best fusion laboratories,” said CCFE Director Professor Steven Cowley. “It also indicates our aspirations to be at the forefront of the realisation of fusion as a major source of clean energy.”

MAST update - Autumn 2009

28/10/2009 00:00:00

MAST status

At the end of the summer a short MAST engineering break was completed on schedule and a plasma was established on 2 September. During the engineering break, the new Thomson scattering collection lens (pictured right) was installed and essential maintenance was carried out on the MAST centre column and toroidal field sliding joints. The Thomson scattering system installation represents the second and final stage of a major £2 million upgrade, part-funded by York University. The new system was calibrated on 6-7 September and high temporal and spatial resolution profiles of electron temperature and density are now available. This major project is on schedule and close to budget – a major achievement.

In parallel with these activities, the 28GHz gyrotron, on loan from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been commissioned to high power into a calorimeter and electron Bernstein wave start up experiments, exploiting the gyrotron, have started. These experiments are being carried out as part of an EU-US-JA collaboration. The two MAST neutral beam injectors are presently being commissioned and experiments with high power NBI will resume in early October.

The present experimental campaign (M7c) will run until 18 December and will also benefit from the availability of a new fast gas valve (on loan from FZJ Julich). Detailed plans are being prepared for the next major MAST engineering break which will begin at Christmas and last approximately five months.

MAST Research Forum

The 6th MAST Research Forum took place at Culham on 14-15 September to review results from 2008/09 (campaigns M7a, M7b), prioritise experiments for campaign M7c (Autumn 2009) and consider the main aims and objectives for campaign M8 (2010). Many international collaborators and UK university scientists attended the forum or participated remotely by video conference.

Visits to MAST

Several scientists from the USA and Japan visited MAST in September to participate in the EBW start-up experiments and to assist with gyrotron commissioning.

Conferences and meetings

MAST was very well represented at the EFDA Transport Topical Group Meeting at Culham in September. Presentations were made by Andrew Kirk, Patrick Tamain, Hendrik Meyer, Anthony Field and Clive Michael.

Simon Pinches attended the 11th IAEA Technical Meeting on Energetic Particles in Kiev where he gave a presentation on fast ion driven instabilities in MAST. He also attended the ITPA Topical Group meeting on energetic particles which was held in conjunction with the IAEA meeting.