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Improvement and Verification of Online Cross Section Generation Capability of Griffin for TRISO-fueled Reactors

Griffin, a MOOSE-based reactor multiphysics code jointly developed by Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory under the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s NEAMS program, has pursued the development of an online multigroup cross section generation capability for a few years to enable high-fidelity, problem-dependent neutronics analyses of advanced thermal reactors. Recent advancements in Griffin’s online multigroup cross section generation capability have significantly improved the accuracy, robustness, and efficiency of self-shielding calculations for both prismatic and pebble-bed TRISO-fueled reactor applications. Key developments include a unified fuel self-shielding method applicable to both TRISO and annular compact/spherical shell fuel zone geometries; an advanced Dancoff Category-based Equivalence Theory using a bell function for non-fuel resonance treatment, achieving more than an order-of-magnitude speedup compared to the Tone method; an on-the-fly multigroup equivalence approach to mitigate group condensation errors; and a streaming correction method for pebble-bed homogenization. A proof-of-concept demonstration of on-the-fly group condensation with consistent P0 transport correction was also achieved. The method reproduced direct fine-group solutions with excellent accuracy (eigenvalue errors within 10 pcm and pin-power differences within 0.5%), but due to performance limitations of the current fixed-source solver, improvements to solver efficiency will be addressed in future work. Verification tests were performed on graphite-moderated TRISO-fueled two-dimensional core benchmark problems representing gas-cooled microreactors, heat pipe-cooled microreactors, gas-cooled pebble-bed reactors, and fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactors. Across all cases, Griffin showed excellent agreement with Serpent2 continuous energy Monte Carlo solutions: eigenvalue errors within 200 pcm, pin-power root-mean-square errors within 2%, and control rod and drum worth errors less than 2%. It should be noted that, for the benchmark problem, cross section generation contributed less than 3% of the total simulation times. These results demonstrate that Griffin’s online cross section generation capability delivers accurate and efficient reactor physics solutions across a wide spectrum of TRISO-fueled advanced reactor designs. With further improvements to the fine-group fixed-source solver and planned extensions to depletion, transients, and coupled neutron–gamma transport, Griffin will be well-positioned to become a powerful and comprehensive tool for advanced reactor analysis.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Energy Requirements for Integration of Nuclear Reactors with Iron and Steel Plants

This report identifies energy needs of heavy energy users within the domestic iron and steel industry and suggests solutions for integrating nuclear energy. The iron and steel industry, composed of several types of plants which perform different processes with varied energy demands and vectors, is a heavy consumer of electric power and fossil fuels including coke and natural gas. Almost all major process temperatures exceed the temperatures of direct heat available from advanced reactors, and so electricity and hydrogen were considered instead. Reference units were adopted and estimated energy demands computed for the blast furnace (BF), direct reduced iron (DRI) unit, electric arc furnace (EAF), and reheat furnaces. By utilizing production capacity data from industry reports, the ranges of power demands were estimated, including for hydrogen production by high temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE). For the EAF and DRI unit, more detailed integration studies with thermodynamic modeling were also conducted and determined a possible solution with a specific reactor design and number of modules. Furthermore, because many unit processes are co-located, entire plants were considered by adding the energy demands of the unit processes to form four hypothetical reference plants. The range of power needs for the reference plants is compatible with multi-unit banks of microreactors at the low end, and would create a need for multiple larger-capacity SMRs at the high end (1 GWe plus 0.14 GWt). Although the overall power need at the high end is well-matched with one present-day large reactor offering (1.1 GWe), redundancy considerations may require a minimum of two reactors, potentially eliminating the single large reactor from consideration. Auxiliary or house loads would increase the reference plant estimates. Finally, the report provides total estimated energy needs under integration of all U.S. units of each process (BF, DRI, EAF, and reheat furnaces), representing a national potential for nuclear energy in the industry. U.S. iron and steel plants may be candidates for integration with nuclear reactors via electricity and hydrogen, and many sites have energy requirements that correspond well to the capacities of several advanced nuclear power designs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Security by Design Economics Analysis for Advanced Reactors and Small Modular Reactors Project Interim Report for FY2021

Advanced Reactor and Small Modular Reactor (AR/SMR) designs have the potential to provide clean, reliable baseload energy. Ensuring the capability to deploy these reactors in an economically viable fashion is of interest to industry. A large portion of the expected operating costs of AR/SMRs involves the security of the plant. Security by Design (SeBD) is the practice of including features in the design and construction of the site, with the intent to decrease the operating costs related to security. Quantifying the increase or decrease in the overall lifetime cost to the plant as a result of SeBD is of paramount importance in understanding the disadvantages and benefits of such activities. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of International Nuclear Security (INS) is funding the development of a methodology whereby the capital expenses and operating expenses, as well as the physical security effectiveness, of SeBD can be quantified for AR/SMRs. This report is an interim report on the progress of the work performed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Idaho National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). It is the second annual report on this work.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Mechanical Properties of Aged A709

A709 plate is in the process of being developed and qualified through a collaboration by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The goal is to qualify A709 plate in Section III, Division 5 of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC). This would permit the construction of A709 plate for fast-reactor structural applications. A tradeoff between creep and creep-fatigue properties was established in prior work. A processing route was identified as providing the optimal balance between creep-rupture and elevated-temperature cyclic properties for the solution annealed condition. This condition, however, resulted in a shorter than desired creep-rupture life. Aging is probed to evaluate its potential at further improving mechanical properties. Aging statically precipitates the solutes in solution prior to service. The processing routes identified as providing the best creep-rupture properties and best balance in mechanical properties are investigated. This report discloses the results from tensile, creep, and elevated-temperature cyclic testing performed at INL on the aged material. The aged properties are compared to solution annealed properties. A709 offers improvement in performance compared to 316H particularly at high temperatures; 316H is a material qualified in Section III, Division 5 of the ASME BPVC. For certain high-temperature fast-reactor design conditions, 316H cannot be used while A709 can.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Continuous-flow reactor with superior production rate and stability for CO 2 reduction using semiconductor photocatalysts

Semiconductor photocatalyst approaches for solar CO 2 reduction are attractive due to their simplicity but have lagged in efficiency compared to less-integrated photoelectrochemical (PEC) approaches and to electrolysis reactors. We identify poor mass transport and catalyst deactivation as key constraints. To address them, we have developed a continuous-flow photocatalytic reactor system allowing us to control the triple-phase interface on the photocatalyst surface using the liquid and reactant gas flow rates. With the goal of selectively producing CO, the reactor is optimized by controlling the pressure and flow rates of the reactant gas and electrolyte in contact with both sides with the intermediately placed catalyst. In comparison to batch reactors with an immobile photocatalyst bed and gas phase CO 2 or CO 2 purged water, 10–24 times higher production rates are achieved for photocatalysts such as TiO 2 , ZnO, C 3 N 4 , and CdS by simply changing to the designed flow-type photoreactor without any catalyst modification. In addition, CO selectivity (93.2%) and long-term stability (>780 min) using the designed reactor are significantly enhanced compared to using the batch reactors (71.7%, <180 min for reduced 50% activity). Here, we propose that the enhanced mass transport on the photocatalyst surface accelerates the desorption of the initial photolysis product, CO, and prevents the poisoning effect from deactivating photocatalyst activity. This study has the potential to facilitate the utilization of semiconductor-based photocatalytic reactions for achieving superior performance wih gaseous reactants.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Levelized cost and carbon intensity of solar hydrogen production via water splitting using a scalable and intrinsically safe photocatalytic Z-scheme raceway system

Generating hydrogen from local energy resources such as solar or wind would unlock a low-carbon energy carrier that could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in sectors such as industry and transportation. Yet, the allocation of new or existing power generation solely to hydrogen production remains contentious due to disputes regarding emissions accounting. Photocatalytic (PC) hydrogen production technologies offer a unique solution, as hydrogen is produced directly from solar energy and water, without the need for electricity generation. However, cost projections for all photocatalytic designs to date have suggested that they are not cost competitive compared to conventional electrolysis systems manufactured at scale. Herein, we offer the first illustrative benchmark of cost and carbon intensity of hydrogen produced in a type 2 “Z-scheme” photocatalytic reactor design, which employs suspended semiconducting nanoconductor particles organized into two stacked volumes in a raceway design. The “Z-scheme” system utilizes two separate photoabsorber particles, tuned to drive either the hydrogen evolution reaction or the oxygen evolution reaction individually, connected via a reversible, charge transfer redox couple in solution. Furthermore, the results suggest a highly competitive and scalable technology, that justifies further experimental validation and prototyping in the field.

Carbon↗

Performance Improvements for the Griffin Transport Solvers

Griffin is a Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment based reactor multiphysics analysis application jointly developed by Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. Griffin includes a variety of deterministic radiation transport solvers for fixed source, k-eigenvalue, adjoint, and subcritical multiplication, as well as transient solvers for point-kinetics, improved quasi-static, and spatial dynamics. A code assessment performed in FY-20 identified two significant issues with the transport solvers in Griffin: first, the primary heterogeneous SN (discrete ordinates) transport solver based on continuous finite element methods required significant mesh refinement and higher memory usage compared to solvers based on the method of characteristic for equivalent accuracy. Second, the homogeneous PN (spherical harmonics expansion) transport solver did not adequately support polynomial refinement, which is a feature usually required for problems with spatial homogenization and pronounced streaming, typical in fast or gas-cooled reactor systems. To address the first issue, the development effort focused on the more promising discontinuous finite element method (DFEM)-based SN transport solver in Griffin. The addition of an asynchronous parallel transport sweeper and coarse mesh finite difference (CMFD) acceleration have rendered a superior heterogeneous SN transport capability for multiphysics problems that requires far less computing resources in terms of both CPU time and memory usage. This is demonstrated with typical thermal- and fast-spectrum reactor benchmark problems, including 2D Transient Reactor Test, 3D Advanced Burner Test Reactor (ABTR), and 2D and 3D Empire microreactor. For the second issue, the development effort focused on a new transport solver based on the hybrid finite element PN method (HFEM-PN), equivalent to the variational nodal method, as well as a new diffusion solver based on HFEM-Diffusion. This solver is intended for homogenized domains with multiphysics coupling (i.e., supports mesh displacement, seamless temperature feedback, etc.). Initial calculations with the HFEM-Diffusion implementation show very good parallel efficiency for the residual evaluations with the 2D ABTR benchmark. A future development effort will be centered on further improvements to the CMFD, HFEM-PN, and DFEM diffusion solvers to ensure Griffin meets performance and software quality assurance requirements for advanced reactor design and analysis.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Electromagnetic Energy-Assisted Thermal Conversion of Fossil-Based Hydrocarbons to Low-Cost Hydrogen

The goal of this project was to develop and optimize catalysts for methane decomposition, particularly focusing on regeneration via an electromagnetic energy-assisted mechanism, to produce hydrogen more cost-effectively compared to electrolysis routes. To achieve this goal, the project pursued several key objectives. The project began with the preparation and testing of various catalysts. A nickel-silica based catalyst was identified as the most promising material for the pyrolysis of methane into carbon and hydrogen. Kinetic parameters for methane decomposition were determined, aiding in computational modeling efforts. Structured catalysts were investigated, highlighting the need for frequent cleaning or regeneration to maintain performance, with methane conversion rates exceeding 70% in tube furnace tests. Computational fluid dynamics modeling was employed to optimize reactor designs and electrode angles, leading the project team to propose a multi-compartment thermal conversion system for larger setups. This modeling work was important in understanding reaction characteristics, carbon deposition rates, and temperature profiles under various conditions. A bench-scale reactor system was assembled to evaluate catalyst regeneration using electromagnetic energy-assisted mechanisms. Experiments demonstrated the potential for carbon removal, though further optimization is needed. The carbon produced from the methane conversion process was evaluated for potential use in lithium-ion battery electrodes. The carbon exhibited properties similar to commercially available high-purity multi-walled carbon nanotubes and nanofibers, with a carbon content greater than 95%. Coin cell batteries assembled with this carbon showed that lower replacement levels (10% to 33%) outperformed the control group, improving specific capacity density and stability. However, higher replacement levels (100%) demonstrated poorer performance, suggesting that excessive carbon substitution negatively impacts battery performance. These findings indicate the potential marketability of the produced carbon as a component in lithium-ion batteries, though further testing is necessary to confirm long-term advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of the carbon product. These results however justified further technoeconomic assessments to determine if the process can provide low-cost hydrogen. The economic feasibility and technical performance of methane decomposition for hydrogen production were assessed, focusing on three plant configurations: 100E (electrically heated), 100C (combustion heated using produced hydrogen), and PE-Hybrid (a combination of pyrolysis (indicating decomposition) and electrolysis). The Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) for the pyrolysis configurations was found to be approximately 25% lower than that of electrolysis. The 100E configuration had the lowest LCOH at $\$$3.12/kg. Including carbon product sales significantly improved the economics, with the 100C configuration achieving a negative LCOH of -$\$$0.35/kg. The PE-Hybrid configuration was not economically advantageous compared to pure pyrolysis plants due to its complexity and additional equipment requirements. Ultimately, methane pyrolysis presents a viable method for near carbon dioxide-free hydrogen production, with significant economic advantages over electrolysis, especially when considering the sale of carbon byproducts. The 100E and 100C configurations showed the most promise, with the choice between them ultimately depending on the prices of power and natural gas. In conclusion, this technology has the potential to lower hydrogen production costs by leveraging the methane decomposition process with the sale of valuable carbon byproducts. By optimizing catalyst performance and integrating electromagnetic energy-assisted regeneration, the process can achieve higher efficiency and economic viability, making it a competitive alternative to traditional hydrogen production methods.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Transient Analysis of a Micro-reactor using the DireWolf Code Suite

Transient analyses of heat pipe micro-reactors are necessary to ensure that hypothetical accident scenarios do not comprise reactor safety. Due to its small size and reliance on heat-pipes for cooling, the micro-reactor design introduced in this paper is a tightly coupled system which requires multi-physics tools to accurately model transient events. Idaho National Laboratory’s DireWolf code suite based on the MOOSE framework is tailor-built to model heat-pipe reactors. This paper demonstrates DireWolf’s ability to simulate the coupled thermal-neutronics transient behavior of a heat-pipe micro-reactor. The transient events presented here include an inadvertent rotation of all control drums simultaneously and a sudden complete ejection of a single control drum. A detailed description of each event is provided along with simulation results, including time dependent power and temperature distributions, and discussion. This is a Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) led publication.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Transient analysis of a micro-reactor using the DireWolf code suite

Transient analyses of heat pipe micro-reactors are necessary to ensure that hypothetical accident scenarios do not comprise reactor safety. Due to its small size and reliance on heat-pipes for cooling, the micro-reactor design introduced in this paper is a tightly coupled system which requires multi-physics tools to accurately model transient events. Idaho National Laboratory's DireWolf code suite based on the MOOSE framework is tailor-built to model heat-pipe reactors. This paper demonstrates DireWolf's ability to simulate the coupled thermal-neutronics transient behavior of a heat-pipe micro-reactor. The transient events presented here include an inadvertent rotation of all control drums simultaneously and a sudden complete rotation of a single control drum. A detailed description of each event is provided along with simulation results, including time dependent power and temperature distributions, and discussion. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Reactor System Safety: A case for New and Advanced Reactors

This presentation covers a generic overview of reactor system safety testing, analysis, and related research and development (R&D) focusing on new and advanced reactor systems. This presentation is prepared for graduate-level student seminar talks. No specific reactor design information is provided. Only publicly available information and related published articles and book contents are utilized.

21 - SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLAN↗

Estimation of pipe failure frequencies in the absence of operational experience data: A pilot study

Probabilistic failure metrics such as leak frequency and rupture frequency are commonly used to characterize piping reliability. The methodologies for calculating the failure metrics rely on a complex set of input parameters. Operating experience data and experimental data play an important role in informing the different input parameters. The paper describes results and conclusions of a coordinated research project to benchmark three different reliability models using a four-step procedure: reference case definition of relevance to advanced reactor designs, input parameter calibration, validation of results, and application of different methodologies upon completion of the calibration and validation steps. The reference case is a weld consisting of nickel-base alloy 152/52 and located within a primary pressure boundary of an advanced reactor. This alloy is a class of structural materials known to be highly resistant to stress corrosion cracking. Synergies between the different methods are noted and the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to input parameter development is underscored. A key conclusion is that the three methods are equally suitable for estimating failure frequencies. In any specific application, a selection of the most practical or effective computational tool can be considered. The comparison of alternative models confirms and helps to gain confidence in the computed failure frequency estimates. The study was part of a coordinated research project organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Andrew Dieringer Poster for review

Silicon carbide has been identified as a useful material for nuclear application due to its heat resistance, low neutron absorbing cross-section, chemical inertness, and its rigidity as a structural material. These properties make it very favorable for high temperature environments such as in TRISO fuel and advanced reactor designs. Treatments such as n-doping, where carrier atoms are added to increase the number of free electrons, are expected to further improve properties such as thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity. Due to the high amount of neutron interactions in a nuclear reactor, it is expected that silicon carbide used in a reactor will be passively n-doped via transmutation. Studying the effects of n-doping in silicon carbide can help us better understand how the material will operate under real world conditions. We have found that n-doping the SiC increases both thermal and electrical conductivity, providing positive feedback under reactor usage. Previously it had been thought that under reactor conditions material properties of SiC could only degrade due to defects caused by neutron interactions. This study shows that transmutation doping can help to counteract and slow this process. This research shows that SiC can be used in nuclear reactor components contrasting with more costly and complicated alternative materials.

36 - MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A Molten Salt Aerosol Spectroscopy Approach to Online Process Monitoring in Molten Salt Reactors

Recent research and development in molten salt reactors (MSRs) has led to many advanced reactor designs, many of which have demonstrations planned in the next decade. However, a significant challenge that must be overcome before liquid fueled MSRs become viable globally is nuclear material accountancy (NMA) and safeguards. Liquid-fueled MSRs are problematic to safeguards because the nuclear material is in the bulk phase, inventories are constantly changing, and there are potentially many outlet pathways that must be monitored, especially in designs with online chemical processing. At the Idaho National Laboratory, we have developed a process monitoring tool to circulate molten salt through a nebulizer and optical cell, where laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) are applied to track the elemental and oxidation states of the constituents in the salt aerosol. This approach has the potential to provide information on the actinides, fission products, and corrosion in the reactor or process. Preliminary testing in aqueous praseodymium chloride (PrCl3) and neodymium chloride (NdCl3) showed good sensitivity detection limits n developed calibration curves. Additional tests and analysis or ongoing in aqueous solutions while equipment is being scaled up for high temperature molten salt testing. Results for continued testing as well as a status of the molten salt design and anticipated commissioning will be presented.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) Software for Depletion and Fuel Management

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) software is being developed in the Research and Test Reactor (RTR) Program at Argonne National Laboratory to meet the reactor design and analysis needs of the Conversion Program. ADDER is a flexible tool that (1) provides a depletion capability through coupling external neutronics codes with a built-in CRAM solver or external depletion code and (2) provides a user-friendly interface to perform fuel management and criticality search operations. The ADDER software is a Python 3 application written using modern software development practices subject to a compliant implementation of NQA-1 and applicable Department of Energy software quality assurance standards. This report is the user guide for the software release referred to as ADDER v1.1.0. The motivation for a software to have flexible capabilities that ADDER possesses is the need to support a wide variety of geometries that are commonly required in analysis of research and test reactors. These reactors can have complex fuel, experiment, or control material shuffling patterns that persist over several years with many fuel management and partial refueling intervals. The scale of fuel management analysis can require tracking of an inventory that is multiple times the core loading. Many reactors, both power and non-power reactors of various types, will find the features of ADDER useful to facilitate key tasks that a fuel or core design engineer must perform with the convenience of concise input and validated functionality.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) Software for Depletion and Fuel Management

The Advanced Dimensional Depletion for Engineering of Reactors (ADDER) software is being developed in the Research and Test Reactor (RTR) Program at Argonne National Laboratory to meet the reactor design and analysis needs of the Conversion Program. ADDER is a flexible tool that (1) provides a depletion capability through coupling external neutronics codes with a built-in CRAM solver or external depletion code and (2) provides a user-friendly interface to perform fuel management and criticality search operations. The ADDER software is a Python 3 application written using modern software development practices subject to a compliant implementation of NQA-1 and applicable Department of Energy software quality assurance standards. This report is the user guide for the software release referred to as ADDER v1.1.0. The motivation for a software to have flexible capabilities that ADDER possesses is the need to support a wide variety of geometries that are commonly required in analysis of research and test reactors. These reactors can have complex fuel, experiment, or control material shuffling patterns that persist over several years with many fuel management and partial refueling intervals. The scale of fuel management analysis can require tracking of an inventory that is multiple times the core loading. Many reactors, both power and non-power reactors of various types, will find the features of ADDER useful to facilitate key tasks that a fuel or core design engineer must perform with the convenience of concise input and validated functionality.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Multiscale characterization and comparison of historical and modern nuclear graphite grades

Beginning with Chicago Pile I, graphite has been used as a moderator material in nuclear power stations and is considered a potential material for use in future Generation IV advanced reactors. The microstructure of graphite is responsible for much of its mechanical and thermo-physical properties, and how it responds to irradiation. To understand graphite microstructure, it is necessary to understand its porosity at the macro- and micro-scales; and to understand its porosity, it is necessary to characterize the morphological connectivity of the void content and the two main phases of graphite: filler and binder. Here, using several microscopy and analytical techniques, a detailed examination of the heterogeneity, microstructure and pore structure of different graphite grades and their binder and filler phases is presented. Significant differences were found between coarser and finer nuclear grades. Coarse grades have a more diverse range of filler particles, pores and thermal cracks. Finer grades have a more well-defined pore size distribution, fewer variations of filler particles sizes and do not contain as many large thermal cracks. Fine grades tend to have a well-connected network of pores whereas coarser grades contain a larger content of closed porosity. The framework developed within this work can be applied and used to assess the various graphite grades that would down-select materials for specific use in graphite moderated reactor designs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Numerical investigation of alpha particle confinement under the perturbation of neoclassical tearing modes and toroidal field ripple in CFETR

The confinement of alpha particles in burning plasma is a key issue in fusion reactor design, including particle interaction with instabilities. Here, we include two topics: the effect of neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) and toroidal field ripple on alpha particle loss, and the assessment of particle redistribution under an NTM with a reduced model. We consider Chinese fusion engineering test reactor parameters, the alpha particle distribution given by TRANSP/NUBEAM and the NTM perturbation function given by the initial value code TM1. We show that the synergistic effect of the NTM and ripple is negligible; the particle loss fraction does not change with increasing NTM amplitude. Only passing particles are affected by the mode particle resonance, producing profile flattening but no increased loss because only trapped particles are influenced by ripple. To study alpha particle profile flattening, the work adopts an innovative method of phase vector rotation to determine regions of good and broken Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser surfaces and equilibrates the particle density according to local stochasticity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗