Tokamak reactor designs as a function of aspect ratio

This paper assesses the technical and economic potential of tokamak power plants which utilize superconducting coil (SC) or normal conducting coil (NC) designs as a function of aspect ratio (A). Based on the results from plasma equilibrium calculations, the key physics design parameters of βN, βp, βT, and κ were fitted to parametric equations covering A in the range of 1.2–6. By using ARIES-RS and ARIES-ST as reference design points, a fusion reactor system code was used to project the performance and cost of electricity (COE) of SC and NC reactor designs over the same range of A. The principle difference between the SC and the NC designs are the inboard standoff distance between the coil and the inboard first wall, and the maximum central column current density used for respective coil types. Results show that at an output power of 2 GWe both NC and SC designs can project COE in the respectable range of 62–65 mill/kW h at gross thermal efficiency of 46%, with neutron wall loading (Γn) ∼7 MW/m2. More importantly, we have learned that based on the present knowledge of equilibrium physics and fusion power core components and system design we can project the performance and COE of reactor designs at least for the purpose of comparative assessment. Tokamak design points can then be selected and optimized for testing or commercial devices as a function of output power, A and Γn for both SC and NC design options.