ARC disruption physics and strategy
6 affiliations
- 1Commonwealth Fusion Systems
- 2Columbia University
- 3MIT
- 4Chalmers University of Technology
- 5KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- 6Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
Abstract
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) plans to operate a tokamak power plant called ARC in the early 2030s. Tokamak plasmas have stability limits that, if crossed, lead to a rapid termination of the plasma, referred to as a disruption. Disruptions pose a melt risk to the first wall resulting from thermal and non-thermal particle heat fluxes, and an electromagnetic loading risk on all metal components within the equilibrium coils. A comprehensive set of models is used herein to provide an assessment of both mitigated and unmitigated ARC disruption loads. A preliminary massive gas injection system is baselined and a runaway electron mitigation coil option is proposed to close possible gaps in the baseline. It is predicted that all ARC disruption loads are within a factor of 2 of the disruption loads in SPARC, a tokamak presently under construction by CFS, and therefore SPARC provides an opportunity to calibrate models, test solutions and inform the design of ARC. The goal for ARC is disruption-free operation, however, the pragmatic design target is to withstand one mitigated disruption per day, and to restart the plasma following mitigation in tens of seconds without interrupting the power output. Unmitigated disruptions must be rare, and experience with unmitigated disruption impacts in SPARC will better define what rare means. The implications of this strategy for plasma disruptivity and disruption prediction are discussed, and operating the ARC scenario on SPARC is expected to refine the ARC final design and operational plan.
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BibTeX
@article{sweeney2026disruption,
title = {{ARC disruption physics and strategy}},
author = {R. Sweeney and V. Riccardo and Anson E. Braun and C. Clauser and Alexander J. Creely and Thomas H. Eich and Ida Ekmark and A. Feyrer and Christopher J. Hansen and J. C. Hillesheim and Tom Looby and S. Ratynskaia and Raphael Schramm and R. A. Tinguely and Hao Wu and John Boguski and Mark D. Boyer and Justin R. Carmichael and Austin Carter and Rishabh Datta and Tünde Fülöp and R. Granetz and S. Guizzo and Mathias Hoppe and Alexandra LeViness and Andrew O. Nelson and K. Paschalidis and Carlos Paz-Soldán and István Pusztai and Cristina Rea and Tommaso Rizzi and Alex Saperstein and P.B. Snyder and B. Stein-Lubrano and Panagiotis B. Tolias},
journal = {Journal of Plasma Physics},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1017/s0022377826101585},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022377826101585},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - ARC disruption physics and strategy
AU - R. Sweeney
AU - V. Riccardo
AU - Anson E. Braun
AU - C. Clauser
AU - Alexander J. Creely
AU - Thomas H. Eich
AU - Ida Ekmark
AU - A. Feyrer
AU - Christopher J. Hansen
AU - J. C. Hillesheim
AU - Tom Looby
AU - S. Ratynskaia
AU - Raphael Schramm
AU - R. A. Tinguely
AU - Hao Wu
AU - John Boguski
AU - Mark D. Boyer
AU - Justin R. Carmichael
AU - Austin Carter
AU - Rishabh Datta
AU - Tünde Fülöp
AU - R. Granetz
AU - S. Guizzo
AU - Mathias Hoppe
AU - Alexandra LeViness
AU - Andrew O. Nelson
AU - K. Paschalidis
AU - Carlos Paz-Soldán
AU - István Pusztai
AU - Cristina Rea
AU - Tommaso Rizzi
AU - Alex Saperstein
AU - P.B. Snyder
AU - B. Stein-Lubrano
AU - Panagiotis B. Tolias
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/01
JO - Journal of Plasma Physics
DO - 10.1017/s0022377826101585
UR - https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022377826101585
AB - Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) plans to operate a tokamak power plant called ARC in the early 2030s. Tokamak plasmas have stability limits that, if crossed, lead to a rapid termination of the plasma, referred to as a disruption. Disruptions pose a melt risk to the first wall resulting from thermal and non-thermal particle heat fluxes, and an electromagnetic loading risk on all metal components within the equilibrium coils. A comprehensive set of models is used herein to provide an assessment of both mitigated and unmitigated ARC disruption loads. A preliminary massive gas injection system is baselined and a runaway electron mitigation coil option is proposed to close possible gaps in the baseline. It is predicted that all ARC disruption loads are within a factor of 2 of the disruption loads in SPARC, a tokamak presently under construction by CFS, and therefore SPARC provides an opportunity to calibrate models, test solutions and inform the design of ARC. The goal for ARC is disruption-free operation, however, the pragmatic design target is to withstand one mitigated disruption per day, and to restart the plasma following mitigation in tens of seconds without interrupting the power output. Unmitigated disruptions must be rare, and experience with unmitigated disruption impacts in SPARC will better define what rare means. The implications of this strategy for plasma disruptivity and disruption prediction are discussed, and operating the ARC scenario on SPARC is expected to refine the ARC final design and operational plan.
SN - 0022-3778
SN - 1469-7807
ER -