Plasma confinement calculations for TIBER-2

This paper compares the empirically based TIBER-2 design parameters against the reactor parameters of a tokamak based on a theoretical model of heat transport. The motivation behind this project is the following. The present TIBER-2 design is based on an empirical scaling of confinement time tau/sub E/ known as Kaye-Goldston scaling. This empirical scaling is based on data from tokamak plasmas whose temperatures did not exceed a few keV, while the TIBER-2 requires electron temperatures of 25 keV. The question, then, is whether the Kaye Goldston scaling is valid at temperatures above the range of empirical data. For this we must turn to theory. If a theoretical transport model is available that shows favorable correlation with the Kaye-Goldston scaling in the range of a few keV, then this scaling could be extrapolated to the 25 keV range required for TIBER-2. The project is divided into two parts. Part one of the project concerns the development of a transport model from plasma theory that has empirical support. Part two of the project consists of applying the transport model to the TIBER-2 design.