GB/T 4960.9-2013Glossary of nuclear science and technology terms - Part 9: Magnetic confinement fusion (English PDF)

2.1 Basic terms

2.1.1 magnetic confinement fusion; MCF

nuclear fusion reaction produced by confining high-temperature and high-density plasma in high-intensity magnetic field for a long enough time, which can be realized by means of Tokamak (2.1.284), stellarator (2.1.273), reverse field pinch (2.2.117), Z-pinch (2.1.306) and theta-pinch (2.1.283)

2.1.2 acoustic heating

heating plasma via magnetic pumping

Note: The magnetic pumping frequency is much lower than the ion collision frequency and is on the same order of magnitude as the transit frequency of ions when passing through the region where magnetic pumping occurs. In this case, the oscillating field generates sound waves that can be absorbed by the plasma.

2.1.3 adiabatic compression

process of compressing the plasma via the magnetic field, to keep constant magnetic moment

2.1.4 adiabatic compression heating

heating plasma via adiabatic compression

2.1.5 adiabatic invariant

some constant parameters or their constant combination of charged particles moving in the magnetic field when the magnetic field changes with space or time, including invariants in quasi-static process such as magnetic moment, longitudinal invariants and magnetic flux passing through particle drift orbit

2.1.6

Advanced Research Innovation and Evaluation Study; ARIES design and research program of magnetic confinement fusion reactor started in the United States in the 1990s. So far, many fusion reactors have been designed and studied: ARIES-I is the device designed based on the appropriate extrapolation of physical data of Tokamak (2.1.284); ARIES-II and ARIES-IV are two devices operating in the second stability regime with different core compositions; ARIES-III is a reactor type replacing D-T reaction with D-3 He fusion reaction

2.1.7 advanced Tokamak

Tokamak (2.1.284) device that has high plasma confinement performance, high beta (beta) value, high bootstrap current, can keep steady-state operation and effectively remove energy and waste

2.1.8 Alfven gap modes

toroidal characteristics of Tokamak (2.1.284) plasma cause gaps in the original continuous spectrum of Alfven waves, which exist in discontinuous and undamped gap mode

Note: These modes can resonate high-energy particles (e.g., alpha particles from fusion reactions) to excite instability and cause abnormal loss of high-energy particles.

2.1.9 Alfven time

time required for Alfven wave to propagate a certain radian in the toroidal direction, which is a time scale of the instability effect of hydromagnetic

2.1.10 Alfven velocity

propagation velocity of Alfven wave in plasma in the direction of the magnetic field, which is directly proportional to the magnetic field intensity and inversely proportional to the square root of ion density

2.1.11 Alfven wave

wave phenomenon basically showing the magnetohydrodynamics properties of plasma; it is a kind of magnetic field oscillation in plasma. See fast Alfven wave (2.1.101)

2.1.12 Alfven wave instability

electromagnetic microinstability generated when the energy of the plasma particles moving in the direction of the magnetic field is greater than that in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field

Note: This is caused by the centrifugal force acting on the plasma flowing along the curved line of force. This instability causes the entire magnetic field shape to oscillate back and forth.

2.1.13 alpha channel effect

effect for transmitting the energy of fusion alpha particle directly to ions via plasma wave

2.1.14 ambipolar diffusion

phenomenon that electric field appears in the plasma as a result of charge separation due to diffusion of electrons faster than that of ions when density gradient appears in the plasma

Note: This electric field will slow down the electron migration and accelerate the ion migration. When the quasi steady state is reached, the flux density of electrons and ions is equal (assuming that the ionic charge number is 1).

2.1.15 anomalous diffusion

rapid diffusion of plasma particles across the magnetic field caused by non-classical transport in the plasma, which will deteriorate the confinement performance of the plasma. See anomalous transport (2.1.17)

2.1.16 anomalous electron thermal conduction

phenomenon of larger electron thermal conduction loss measured in the experiment, as compared with the classical transport theory in plasma. See anomalous transport (2.1.17)

2.1.17 anomalous transport

phenomenon of larger transport loss measured in the experiment, as compared with the classical transport theory in plasma […]