Projects - Fusion CDT

Microwave current drive in prototype spherical tokamak reactors (plasma strand) project – accepting applications

Supervisors/s: Roddy Vann (University of York), Vladimir Shevchenko (Tokamak Energy), Simon Freethy (UKAEA) Tokamaks require an electrical current in the toroidal direction (the “long way” around the doughnut) for both…

Modular High-Field Superconducting Magnets with Demountable Joints for Fusion Energy Applications (Experimental PhD – Materials Strand project) – accepting applications

Supervisor/s: Professor Damian Hampshire and Dr F Schoofs (CCFE) Background to the PhD Research Project: Modular magnets with demountable superconducting joints will be required for commercialisation of fusion energy. They…

Probing matter in extremes; chemical environment in warm dense matter (plasma strand project) – accepting applications

Supervisor: Andy Higginbotham (University of York) The field of matter in extreme conditions (one example being the warm dense states ubiquitous in inertial confinement fusion) is an exciting and expanding…

Developing advanced concepts for the extraction of negative ions from non-equilibrium plasmas (plasma strand project)

Supervisors: James Dedrick (University of York) and Timo Gans (University of York) The development of advanced ion sources is of significant interest for many technological applications, including neutral beam injectors…

Electron Bernstein wave current drive on MAST-U (plasma strand project)

Supervisor: Roddy Vann (University of York) The MAST-U tokamak is embarking on an ambitious world-first project to inject several megawatts in the microwave frequency range (typically 20-30 GHz) in order…

Understanding performance-limiting magnetohydrodynamics in spherical tokamaks (plasma strand project)

Supervisors: Philippa Browning (University of Manchester) and Chris Ham (CCFE) The Spherical Tokamak device presents exciting prospects both for fundamental research into the physics of fusion plasmas and as a…

Transformational imaging diagnostics for inertial confinement fusion – plasma strand project

Supervisors: Nigel Woolsey (University of York) and Robbie Scott (STFC-CLF) Fusion demands a balance between heating a deuterium-tritium plasma to the necessary thermonuclear temperatures whilst confining the plasma for long…

Turbulent mix in inertial fusion and interstellar clouds – plasma strand project

Supervisor: Nigel Woolsey (University of York) This project will suit someone with interests crossing fusion, plasma physics and astrophysics as well as an individual wishing to develop experimental and computation…

3-D Effects on Tokamak Plasma Stability (plasma strand project)

Supervisor: Howard Wilson (University of York). Ideal magnetohydrodynamics provides a theory for predicting the stability of tokamak plasmas to both large scale and intermediate scale perturbations. The former determines the…

Probing the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition in BCC Blanket Alloys (Materials Strand project)

Supervisor/s: Dr Ed Pickering (University of Manchester), Professor João Fonseca (University of Manchester) and Huw Dawson (CCFE) Conditions inside fusion reactors are exceptionally hostile, involving both high temperatures and severe…

Design, Characterisation and Understanding of Oxidation-Resistant Tungsten Alloys for Nuclear Fusion Reactors (materials strand project)

Supervisor/s: Prof. Ping Xiao (University of Manchester) and Dr. Ying Chen (University of Manchester). Tungsten is one of the leading candidates for plasma facing materials (PFMs) in nuclear fusion reactors to protect…

Irradiated Superconductors in High Magnetic Fields for Compact Fusion Energy Tokamaks (Experimental PhD – Materials Strand project).

Supervisor/s – Professor Damian Hampshire (Durham University) and Dr F Schoofs (CCFE) Background to the Research Project: CCFE will soon install (scheduled for December 2019) a state-of-the-art 14 Tesla cryogenic…

Computational Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) Theory for High-Field Superconductors in Compact Fusion Energy Tokamaks (Computational PhD – Materials strand project)

Supervisor: Professor Damian Hampshire (Durham University) Background: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific projects…

Using advanced camera image and data analysis to address an important hurdle for magnetic fusion energy (plasma strand project)

Supervisors: Bruce Lipschultz (University of York), Ben Dudson (University of York) and James Harrison (CCFE) A magnetically confined fusion tokamak reactor does not operate in isolation: Fusion reactions generate…

Joining techniques between P91 steel and 316 L stainless steel for nuclear fusion applications (materials strand project)

Supervisors: Aneeqa Khan (University of Manchester), John Francis (University of Manchester), Ed Pickering (University of Manchester) and Yiqiang Wang (CCFE) Typically, components in a fusion reactor need to be made of…

Alloy design and high-temperature mechanics of plasma-facing materials (materials strand project)

Supervisors: Dr. Enrique Jimenez-Melero (University of Manchester) and Prof. Grace Burke (University of Manchester) Tungsten stands as the main plasma-facing material for fusion reactors due to its melting point (3420°C), low…

Effects of irradiation damage and temperature on the mechanical properties of lithium-containing ceramics for tritium breeding (materials strand project)

Supervisor/s: DEJ Armstrong (University of Oxford) and CRM Grovenor (University of Oxford) In all future nuclear fusion power production reactors, tritium must be bred in tritium breeding modules (TBMs) and…

Shear Punch Testing of Nuclear Materials (Materials strand project)

Supervisors: David Armstrong (University of Oxford), Hannah Wilcox (NNL) and Mike Gorley (CCFE) With the advent of next generation nuclear power systems including GEN IV, Small Modular Reactors and Fusion…

Characterising high-flux x-ray emission in the highest intensity laser-matter interactions (plasma strand project)

Supervisors: K.Lancaster (University of York) and C.Ridgers (University of York) Our ability to compress more laser energy into shorter duration pulses, has enabled a dramatic increase in the achievable laser…

New Zr alloys for fusion applications (materials strand project)

Supervisors: DEJ Armstrong (University of Oxford) and CRM Grovenor (University of Oxford) There is currently a lot of activity in the UK in selecting the materials from which key components…

ELECTROMAGNETIC TURBULENCE AND ADVANCED TRANSPORT MODELLING (Plasma Strand Project)

Supervisor/s: Dr David Dickinson (University of York) and Dr Colin Roach (CCFE) The fusion performance of tokamaks is strongly influenced by the effectiveness of the background magnetic field in holding…

Modelling kinetic effects on the heat exhaust in high power tokamaks (plasma strand project)

Supervisor/s: Dr Chris Ridgers (University of York) and Dr Ben Dudson (University of York) To achieve conditions where substantial energy output is obtained via fusion reactions a DT plasma must…

Numerical investigation of plasma turbulence and filaments dynamics in three-dimensional tokamak geometries (plasma strand project)

Supervisor/s: Ben Dudson (University of York) and Fabio Riva (CCFE) The ultimate aim of tokamak research is to design and build a device which can generate significant net power through…

Optimisation of LWFA electrons for radiography sources (plasma strand project)

Supervisor: Dr Chris Murphy (University of York). Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) research has developed over the last decade or two with significant improvements in neutron-yield driven by the increased understanding…

Characterising Plasma Ions in the MAST-U Divertor (plasma strand project)

Supervisors: Professor James Bradley (University of Liverpool) and Dr James Harrison (CCFE) The energy and species composition of plasma ions near material surfaces in tokamak divertors strongly governs the plasma-material…

The role of plasma-molecule reactions in influencing detachment (plasma strand project)

Supervisor: Mark Bowden (University of Liverpool) Tokamak exhaust, the flow of energy and particles from the core plasma to the walls, is one of the central challenges of the ITER…

Using microwave back-scattering to determine the stability of the tokamak plasma edge (plasma strand project)

Figure: Blue and red Doppler-shifted back-scattered microwaves from the MAST tokamak plasma surface, imaged by the original SAMI diagnostic (Thomas et al., Nucl. Fusion 56 (2016) 026013) Supervisor: Roddy Vann…