PhD position in modeling Electron Cyclotron Heating plasmas with SOLPS-ITER

Nuclear fusion has the potential to provide the world’s energy needs with safe, sustainable and virtually limitless energy. The experimental reactor ITER, currently being built in France, is the key experimental step between today’s fusion research machines and tomorrow’s fusion power plants. In this context, startup of the reactor and wall conditioning will be carried out through Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) plasmas. This project aims at providing accurate predictions of such plasmas for ITER, by developing new numerical modeling approaches. In particular, the project addresses important open issues for electron cyclotron wall conditioning such as wave absorption efficiency, the role of poloidal field maps on the achievable plasma parameters, and the particle fluxes to the plasma facing components.

To tackle these issues, the SOLPS-ITER code will be extended to model the ECH power deposition, and to accurately simulate the low-density, partially ionized plasmas envisaged, especially in regions close to the vessel walls. Experimental results from present tokamaks will allow model enhancements and benchmarking of SOLPS-ITER predictions. This work will not only unlock a new reliable simulation framework for ECH plasmas based on the SOLPS-ITER code, but indirectly also contribute substantially to the further development and testing of SOLPS-ITER itself and the supporting pre-and post-processing tools.