Plasma physics basis and operations of the ARIES-ST tokamak power plant

ARIES-ST, a fusion power plant design based on the spherical tokamak concept, has many attractive features, including high beta and power density, low magnetic field, high self-driven current, and a compact power core. The physics basis for three aspects of the plasma performance and operation, namely, MHD stability, current drive and profile control, and startup have been investigated during the first phase of the design, and the results to date are reported.