DisruptionPy: An open-source physics-based Scientific Framework for Disruption Analysis of Fusion Plasmas

Description

Abstract

A key element to ensure steady state operations in magnetically-confined tokamak devices is the prediction and avoidance of disruptions. These are sudden losses of the thermal and magnetic energy stored within the plasma, which can occur when tokamaks operate near stability boundaries or because of hardware anomalies. The energy stored in the plasma and released during disruptions over milliseconds can cause severe damage to plasma-facing components, limiting experimental operations and the device's lifespan [FST2023]. Disruptions still pose a serious challenge to next-generation fusion devices such as ITER or SPARC, which will have to operate near some of the limits of plasma stability to achieve intended performance and will do so at for long and frequent intervals. Fusion science currently lacks first-principle, theoretical solutions to fully predict and avoid disruptions. However, previous work [NF2019, NF2021] has shown the usefulness of machine-learning (ML) algorithms for disruption prevention for both DIII-D and EAST operations. DisruptionPy provides a standardized analysis pipeline across different fusion devices to build ML-ready datasets.

Technical info

C-MOD

• Update C-MOD mdsplus server #513
• Add C-MOD attributes #511

DIII-D

• Use local scratch rather than tmp for DIII-D #494

HBT-EP

• Add HBT-EP to remote tests #510
• Add HBT-EP shotlist #508

MAST

• Introduce MAST workflows #509
• Update MAST configurations #516

Framework

• Suppress git errors for non-git execution #492
• More robust MDSplus fallback logic #499
• Suppress warning for dummy DBs #503
• Fix FutureWarning when merging xarrays #507
• Add metadata to xarray outputs #512

Automation

• Longer period before stale #515

Documentation

• Add generic methods to docs #495
• Update APS-DPP 2025 IDs #489
• Revamp installation readmes #501
• Add databases to references #504

Dependencies

• Update deps to Nov 2025 #491
• Bump actions/checkout from 5 to 6 #490
• Update deps to Dec 2025 #502
• Update deps to Jan 2026 #514