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Study of impurity transport in negative and positive triangularity plasmas


Thesis topic details

General information

Organisation

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.

Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.

The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
  

Reference

SL-DRF-26-0456  

Direction

DRF

Thesis topic details

Category

Corpuscular physics and outer space

Thesis topics

Study of impurity transport in negative and positive triangularity plasmas

Contract

Thèse

Job description

Nuclear fusion in a tokamak is a promising source of energy. However, a question arises: which plasma configuration is most likely to produce net energy? In order to contribute to answering this, during this PhD, we will study the impact of magnetic geometry (comparison between positive and negative triangularity) on the collisional and turbulent transport of tungsten (W). The performance of a tokamak strongly depends on the energy confinement it can achieve. The latter degrades significantly due to turbulent transport and radiation (primarily from W). On ITER, the tolerated amount of W in the core of the plasma is about 0.3 micrograms. Experiments have shown that the plasma geometry with negative triangularity (NT) is beneficial for confinement as it significantly reduces turbulent transport. With this geometry, it is possible to reach confinement levels similar to those of the ITER configuration (H-mode in positive triangularity), without the need for a minimum power threshold and without the associated plasma edge relaxations. However, questions remain: what level of W transport is found in NT compared to a positive geometry? What level of radiation can be predicted in future NT reactors? To contribute to answering these questions, during this PhD, we will evaluate the role of triangularity on impurity transport in different scenarios in WEST. The first phase of the work is experimental. Subsequently, the modeling of impurity transport will be carried out using collisional and turbulent models. Collaboration is planned with international plasma experts in NT configurations, with UCSD (United States) and EPFL (Switzerland).

University / doctoral school

Physique et Sciences de la Matière (ED352)
Aix-Marseille Université

Thesis topic location

Site

Cadarache

Requester

Position start date

01/10/2026

Person to be contacted by the applicant

MORALES Jorge jorge.morales2@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRFM//GEDS
CEA Cadarache
IRFM
13108 St. Paul lez Durance Cedex

04 42 25 41 27

Tutor / Responsible thesis director

GUIRLET Rémy remy.guirlet@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRFM//GECF
IRFM/SCCP
Bat. 508
CEA/Cadarache
13108 St-Paul-lez-Durance
+33 (0)4 42 25 38 85

En savoir plus


https://irfm.cea.fr/en/presentation-of-west/