Diagnostics for plasma control on DEMO: challenges of implementation

As a test fusion power plant, DEMO will have to demonstrate reliability and very long pulse/steady-state operation, which calls for unprecedented robustness and reliability of all diagnostic systems (also requiring adequate redundancy). But DEMO will have higher levels of neutron and gamma fluxes, and fluences, nuclear heating, and fluxes of particles than ITER, and probably reduced physical access. In particular, the neutron fluence will be about 15-50 times higher than that in ITER. As a consequence, some diagnostics that will work in ITER are likely to be unfeasible in DEMO. It is important, therefore, to develop a new way of thinking with respect to that employed to date in which diagnostics are added after the machine has been basically designed: if certain diagnostics are deemed essential for the control of DEMO, they will have to be taken into account during the entire design phase.