ITER and DEMO

The future of fusion research will be increasingly focussed on the ITER tokamak and its successor DEMO – the first European demonstration fusion power plant. DTU has developed the Collective Thomson scattering (CTS) diagnostic system for ITER – based on the extensive experience from present-day fusion devices.

The ITER CTS diagnostic will be essential in the quest to better understand the fast-ion dynamics of the alpha particles born in the fusion processes in the core of ITER.

The ITER CTS diagnostic will use a 1 MW gyrotron to inject probing radiation into the plasma. Seven radially distributed receiver view will observe the interaction between the gyrotron radiation and microscopic fluctuations in the plasma and thereby reveal important information about the ion dynamics in the plasma.

The DEMO reactor will be equipped with only the most essential diagnostics needed for operation. DTU is working on a feasibility study to assess the performance of a DEMO CTS system aimed at measuring the ion temperature and ion rotation velocity of the DEMO plasma. The construction of DEMO is expected to start around 2040.

Left: Overview of the ITER tokamak, with the location of the DTU-developed ITER CTS diagnostic marked by red arrow. Right: Sketch of the ITER CTS diagnostic.