Axisymmetric Equilibrium and Stability Analysis in Alcator C-Mod

The vertical position of elongated tokamak plasmas is unstable on the time scale of the eddy currents in the axisymmetric conducting structures. In the absence of feedback control, the plasma would drift vertically and quench on the wall, a situation known as Vertical Displacement Event (VDE), with serious consequences for machine integrity. As tokamaks approach reactor regimes, VDE’s cannot be tolerated: vertical feedback control must be robust against system uncertainty and the occurrence of noise and disturbances. At the same time, adaptive routines should be in place to handle unexpected events. The problem of robust control of the vertical position can be formulated in terms of identifying which variables affect vertical stability and which ones are not directly controlled/controllable; identifying the physical region of these variables, and the corresponding most unstable equilibria; and designing the control system to stabilize all equilibria with sufficient margin. The margin should be enough to allow the system to tolerate realistic scenarios of noise and disturbances.