Introduction
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold the first IAEA DEMO Programme Workshop (DPW-2012) at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California, United States of America from 15 - 18 October 2012. The meeting will be hosted by the University of California at Los Angeles.
Background
With the construction of ITER, the worldwide magnetic fusion programme has begun a transition from a fusion science activity to one aimed at producing fusion energy on an industrial, power plant scale. This is driving an increased emphasis on a fusion technology programme which, along with ITER and accompanying research, will bring fusion as a power source within our reach. While internationally there is no agreement on a single roadmap to fusion, the science and technology issues to be resolved for fusion power to become a reality are broadly agreed. Resolving these issues and understanding the options for next-step fusion nuclear facilities are of common interest, even if the emphases and priorities vary from nation to nation. Thus there is substantial scope to add value to the programme by international cooperation. Against this backdrop, the IAEA has established a series of annual DEMO Programme Workshops to facilitate international collaboration on defining and coordinating DEMO programme activities.
Objectives
The objective of this, the first workshop in the IAEA series, is to discuss a subset of key DEMO scientific and technical issues with the aim of defining the facilities and program activities that can lead to their resolution. The workshop output, to be documented in summary presentations and (tentatively) a journal publication, will be information that could be used by any party as input to the planning of possible roadmaps to DEMO. Opportunities to make greater progress through international collaboration will be identified, ideally leading to coordination or joint work where beneficial. To promote continuity in the workshop series, participants will propose the set of topics for the next workshop(s) in the series, considering the status, expected progress, and need for international discussion among the various DEMO issues.
Topics
The Meeting will cover the following topics:
1. Fusion power extraction and tritium fuel cycle
What choices are available for material, coolant, breeder, configuration and design concepts for fusion nuclear components worldwide (focus on power extraction and tritium fuel cycle)?What are the key fusion nuclear science and technology (FNST) issues and challenges? What issues can be resolved in non-fusion facilities? What issues require experiments in integrated fusion nuclear environment? What laboratory facilities need to be upgraded or constructed in the next 10 years? What are the major parameters and features required in a next step fusion nuclear facility to resolve the FNST issues and develop fusion nuclear components? What is the role of ITER TBM? What are the stages of experiments and development of FNST in a fusion nuclear facility? What strategies can be adopted for design, construction and operation of next step fusion nuclear facility (ies) to address the challenges of RAMI and limited availability of external tritium supply?
2. Plasma power exhaust and impurity control
What choices are available for plasma exhaust in fusion nuclear facilities, where the loads and conditions are harsher than those of ITER? What combination of materials, divertor configurations, neutral gas pumping, and operating scenarios will lead to solutions compatible with good plasma performance, tritium breeding, and long component lifetimes?
3. Magnetic configuration and operating scenario for a next-step fusion nuclear facility
What is the mission for a next step fusion facility and what are the major parameters and features required to fulfill its mission? What choices are available for fusion nuclear facilities that can fulfill this mission? Tokamaks and stellarators are the main configuration candidates at this time, but the choice of operating scenario, e.g. repetitively pulsed or continuous, and the associated control strategies are not firmly resolved.
