Speaker: Hyeon K. Park
Affiliations: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Korea  PPPL, Princeton New Jersey, USA

Title: New Aspects of Confinement, Stability and Ignition of the Magnetic Fusion Plasma

Abstract: Burning plasma in magnetic fusion relies on sufficient a-power and adequate energy confinement time. While D-T experiments with high ion temperature (T i >10keV) produced a-power up to ~4 MW and t E ~0.7s, construction of ITER, expecting ignition with ~5s of t E , is in progress. Identification of adequate a-power for sustainment of T i >10 keV and practical problems (e.g., antennas and narrow resonance layer) is priority in future research. In confinement physics, the difference between L and H mode is attributed to magnetic configuration and the edge pedestal density/temperature (ETB) is largely controlled by both intrinsic transport property and influx plasmas induced by outflux plasmas from the limiter/divertor plates. The ITB position of the various improved confinement regimes such as “Supershot” and “Super H-mode” is where the fluctuation is lowest and highly correlated with the heating profile footprints. High edge fluctuation level may be originated from the influx plasma. Transport models that support the ITB and/or ETB physics are examined including ExB shear, ITG marginality, etc. If MHD instabilities are not controllable, develop a mode of operation with minimum instabilities. A reasonably large size (V p ~200m 3 is much smaller than ITER, V p ~800m 3 ) ignition device is feasible with optimized ion heating system and device geometric factors.

Biograohy: Hyeon Park is a renowned Korean physicist who is currently a Professor at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, and a Senior Physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

Prof. Park received his bachelor’s of science degree in physics from the University Southern California and his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in 1984. He joined PPPL that year and worked at the laboratory until 2007, spending more than a decade developing diagnostics for TFTR, which set a world record for producing fusion power in 1994 before being decommissioned in 1997.

Following 23 years at PPPL, Prof. Park became a professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology in Korea, where he established a fusion plasma research center. He moved in 2013 to his current position as a professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Korea and has served as a director and senior advisor at the KSTAR research center since 2015.

Prof. Park received the prestigious 2020 Subramanyan Chandrasekhar Prize for Plasma Physics from the Division of Plasma Physics of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPS-DPP) ‘for unprecedented new physics results through his original and pioneering works in fusion plasma diagnostics, which has produced an essential diagnostic tool for tokamak fusion facilities throughout the world.’ He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).

This talk will be offered in a hybrid format. If you wish to participate remotely, please send an email to [email protected].