EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Fusion Power - EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in the Science and Technology of Fusion Energy

Fusion CDT
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Jordan Speake

University of York

Co-hort year: 2025

Personal Background

Originally intending to go into electronics design, my undergraduate degree was MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Bath. Towards the end of my degree I gained an interest in magnetic confinement fusion from a piece of coursework studying the development of superconducting magnets. Following this, I took the MSc in Fusion Energy at the University of York. Here, I acquired a further interest in plasma physics, and my dissertation studied the effects of plasma shaping on the stability of fusion plasmas. Now, joining the CDT, my project similarly studies stability of fusion plasmas.

Project Description

H-mode is a certain configuration of a fusion plasma, where the turbulence at the outer edge of the plasma becomes suppressed. This causes temperature and density gradients at the edge to become much larger than normal, resulting in greater temperatures and densities in the core. This is very beneficial as these increases cause a greater rate of fusion reactions within the plasma.

However, plasmas in the H-mode regime are susceptible to significant instabilities at the plasma edge, called Edge Localised Modes (ELMs). ELMs can cause significant disruption to the plasma, and even damage the vessel. Techniques for suppressing these are required for future fusion power plants, such as STEP, a proposed power-producing pilot power plant. Currently, construction commences circa 2030.

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is a mathematical model, describing plasma as a conducting fluid. This description can be applied to study instabilities within fusion plasmas. A software package, ELITE (Edge Localized Instabilities in Tokamak Experiments), has been designed to study ELMs using MHD.

My project aims to make use of MHD theory and ELITE to study specific types of ELMs in fusion plasmas, triggered by instabilities called peeling and ballooning modes. I’ll also have the opportunity to contribute to further development of ELITE, as well as schemes for the active suppression of ELMs. This research will contribute to de-risking designs for STEP.

 

Supervisors