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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fitzpatrick, Richard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24928
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author Fitzpatrick, Richard
author_facet Fitzpatrick, Richard
contents The controlled ramp down of the toroidal plasma current in the ITER tokamak is simulated using a simple model that employs cylindrical geometry. The magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) stability of the plasma throughout the whole current ramp is also calculated. The only potentially unstable MHD mode is the m=2/n=1 classical tearing mode. The envisioned 60 second ramp down of the plasma current in ITER is found to be perfectly feasible, provided that the plasma is sufficiently hot at the start of the ramp. However, attempts to ramp down the current on a significantly faster time scale are predicted to excite 2/1 tearing modes that are likely to lock to the vacuum vessel, and trigger a disruption.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_24928
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A simple model of current ramp down in the ITER tokamak
Fitzpatrick, Richard
Plasma Physics
The controlled ramp down of the toroidal plasma current in the ITER tokamak is simulated using a simple model that employs cylindrical geometry. The magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) stability of the plasma throughout the whole current ramp is also calculated. The only potentially unstable MHD mode is the m=2/n=1 classical tearing mode. The envisioned 60 second ramp down of the plasma current in ITER is found to be perfectly feasible, provided that the plasma is sufficiently hot at the start of the ramp. However, attempts to ramp down the current on a significantly faster time scale are predicted to excite 2/1 tearing modes that are likely to lock to the vacuum vessel, and trigger a disruption.
title A simple model of current ramp down in the ITER tokamak
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24928