Plasma physics for fusion reactor system codes: Framework and model code

Design of a fusion reactor power plant requires putting together physics elements (plasma physics) and engineering elements (plant characteristics). System codes are tools that perform integrated plant design taking into account those two aspects. Design optimization can also be carried out, to produce the “best” reactor design, according to some pre-defined figures of merit. However, presently used system codes often lack a plasma model with sufficient level of realism in terms of description of plasma processes and non-linearities. In this work, for the first time, a framework in which the plasma model should interact with the engineering elements is detailed, giving the attention on the logic of how the plasma physics should be represented inside the system codes. Ultimately, no ambiguity is left on how the problem should be addressed and solved. Concrete details on how the plasma model should be written are also presented. A novel code PLASMOD has been written which incorporates these elements and can be used in a generic engineering system code.