Title:

The Journey Toward Fusion Power: Accomplishments, Current Challenges, and Research Opportunities

Speaker:

Dr. Arsene Tema Biwole

Affiliation:

MIT

When:

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

GTMI Building, Room 114

Host:

Dr. Chaitanya Deo
chaitanya.deo@me.gatech.edu

Abstract

Fusion energy is entering a new era, with deuterium-tritium (D-T) fueled Fusion Pilot Plants (FPPs) expected by the 2030s. As fusion progresses, however, critical questions remain in optimizing reactor design. One such question is impurity screening in fusion plasmas: Will high-Z impurities, eroded from the Plasma-Facing Material (PFM), penetrate the plasma edge and dilute the fusion fuel, or will they be effectively screened? A promising fusion concept is an FPP with a negative triangularity plasma shape, operating free of plasma instabilities known as Edge Localized Modes (ELMs). However, since ELMs play a key role in expelling impurities from the plasma core, this raises another key question: How is impurity transport characterized in ELM-free regimes, including negative triangularity scenarios? Beyond impurity transport, another major challenge in reactor-scale plasmas is controlling runaway electrons. These highly energetic electrons form when the plasma confinement is lost, allowing strong electric fields to accelerate a fraction of them to relativistic speeds. If unmitigated, runaway electrons pose a risk of severe damage to the reactor walls. Understanding their formation and suppression mechanisms is therefore crucial for reliable reactor operation. This talk will present plasma impurity research and its role in advancing fusion reactor design. It will cover the challenges of diagnosing and controlling runaway electrons. The presentation will highlight state-of-the-art modeling and experimental tools that are driving innovation in these areas of fusion research. Finally, the discussion will explore key research opportunities in fusion engineering and technology to accelerate progress toward fusion power.

Biography

Arsene Tema Biwole is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is currently based at General Atomics as a visiting scientist, conducting research at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. Arsene holds a B.S. in Energy Engineering and an M.S. in Energy and Nuclear Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, and a Ph.D. in Physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). His research has primarily focused on fusion energy, particularly on developing advanced diagnostic techniques for detecting fast particles in tokamak plasmas during his doctoral work. Currently, he is investigating impurity transport in tokamaks, combining innovative experimental and modeling approaches to tackle one of the most pressing challenges in fusion reactor design.

Notes

Refreshments will be served.