Progress on the development of plasma operating points and scenarios for Tokamak Energy’s fusion pilot plant as part of US DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program

This contribution will present progress on the pre-conceptual design of Tokamak Energy’s FPP under the US DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, with a focus on the plasma operating point and scenario. It will provide an overview of the design process, present a summary of baseline design concepts and the accompanying physics and technical basis, and discuss the key design decisions.

The design workflow starts with the identification of promising design points using an in-house whole plant systems code, PyTok. Candidate design points are further assessed using a series of physics and engineering workflows. For the plasma, this includes integrated core-edge modelling, MHD and energetic particle stability assessments, heating & current drive optimisation, turbulence and transport analysis, pedestal modelling, SOL and divertor modelling, free-boundary equilibrium and optimisation of coil placements, and scenario scoping. The approach aims to increase the fidelity of modelling in a stepwise fashion with each step feeding information back to the preceding ones, whilst also looking to increase confidence in design points or exclude them from further consideration. These workflows are also used to inform key decisions by allowing baseline and variant design points to be developed and assessed.