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Fusion physics

The research in the Fusion physics department is part of the international effort to develop controlled fusion as a clean, safe and sustainable source of energy. The focal point is the ITER experiment, which is currently being built by the European Union, the United States, The Russian Federation, China, Japan, South Korea and India in Cadarache, France. The Fusion Physics department is directly involved in work on the ITER design. It also studies more general fusion relevant topics.

 

Work in the department is based on two topics:

 

  • The study and control of mesoscale structures in the hot fusion plasma
  • Research on the interactions of the hot plasma with the wall of the fusion reactor

 

The department consists of a six groups:


ITER-NL
The ITER.NL group aims at involving Dutch industry into these and other ITER technological projects. For this, the ITER-NL consortium is initiated by Rijnhuizen, TNO and NRG and supported by the Dutch government FES funding.

 

Instrumentation Development
In the Instrumentation Development group state-of-the-art diagnostics are developed for fusion experiments; for ITER work is carried out on the Upper Port Viewer.

 

Tokamak Physics
The Tokamak Physics group is currently exploiting its expertise on microwave plasma heating systems for the design for the ITER Upper Port Launcher (UPL), a system for heating and manipulating the fusion plasma.

 

Computational Plasma Physics HT
The Computational Plasma Physics HT group uses mathematical and numerical modelling for a deeper understanding of both hot fusion plasmas and plasma-surface interaction. This also includes research on astrophysical and dusty plasmas.

 

Public Information group
The Public Information group actively promotes fusion as an energy source to policy makers, students, energy specialists and the general public.

 

The Rijnhuizen fusion research is performed in close collaboration with its partners in the Trilateral Euregio Cluster (TEC). These partners are the FZ-Jülich and KMS/ERM-Brussels. Researchers from the Fusion Physics department are also involved in experiments and data analysis on JET, which is currently the largest fusion experiment worldwide. Collaborations with other groups from the Netherlands (Eindhoven, Groningen) and all over the world (Russian Federation, China) are an important aspect of the research in this group.