Plasma Disruption

A disruption is the sudden, violent loss of plasma confinement — the defining hazard of a tokamak. Kronos budgets a 10 GJ event at 43 MA.

What

Sudden collapse of the confined plasma

Loads

Thermal, electromagnetic, mechanical

Kronos design case

~10 GJ at 43 MA

Open item

Runaway-electron mitigation

A disruption is the sudden, uncontrolled termination of a tokamak plasma: within milliseconds the confinement collapses, dumping the plasma's thermal and magnetic energy into the surrounding structure. It is the single most demanding off-normal event a tokamak must survive, producing intense heat pulses, huge electromagnetic forces, and beams of runaway electrons.

Kronos MetroVolt designs against a disruption energy of order 10 GJ at its 43 MA plasma current, and the design series is candid that runaway-electron mitigation remains an open item. The negative-triangularity edge, strong vertical control, and passive conducting plates all work to make disruptions less likely and less damaging — but the loads are budgeted, not wished away.