The infrastructure for research and learning within the LU Plasma Control Laboratory is enhanced by strengthening the collaboration with DIII-D, NSTX-U, KSTAR, EAST and ITER. These collaborations grants access to students and postdocs to the most important fusion facilities in the world.

DIII-D Tokamak

San Diego, California, USA

The DIII-D tokamak is the core of the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which is operated by General Atomics for the U.S. Department of Energy in San Diego, California. The DIII-D tokamak, which has been operated since the late 1980's, is one of the two largest magnetic-confinement fusion experiments in the U.S. (the other being NSTX-U at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory). The DIII-D tokamak evolved from the Doublet I, Doublet II and Doublet III tokamaks in the 1970's and 1980's. These devices abandoned the traditional circular cross-section in favor of a novel elongated hourglass-shaped plasma cross-section. Further development and research led to DIII-D’s current D-shaped cross-section. The success of this configuration, quantified by much higher plasma pressure and performance, inspired many many other present devices such as KSTAR and EAST to adopt the D-shape. The DIII-D tokamak has a major radius of 1.67 m, a minor radius of 0.67 m, a toroidal magnetic field of up to 2.2 T, heating power of up to 23 MW, and a plasma current of up to 2.0 MA. As one of the collaborating institutions, members of the LU Plasma Control Laboratory are permanently stationed at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility.

KSTAR

Daejeon, South Korea

The KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) tokamak is a medium-size device at the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy in Daejeon, South Korea. KSTAR, which started operating in 2008, belongs to a newer class of tokamaks featuring fully superconducting magnets. This is of great relevance to ITER, which will also use superconducting coils. The KSTAR tokamak has a major radius of 1.8 m, a minor radius of 0.5 m, a maximum toroidal field of 3.5 T, and a maximum plasma current of 2 MA. The KSTAR tokamak has achieved 100 million degrees of ion temperature for more than 20 seconds by improving internal confinement through ITB (Internal Transport Barrier mode). The goal is to sustain these conditions for more than 300 seconds by 2025.

EAST

Hefei, People’s Republic of China

The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) is another medium-size device at the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, China. EAST started operating in 2006 for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Similarly to KSTAR, EAST features fully superconducting magnets for long-pulse operation. EAST also offers fully actively water cooled plasma facing components (PFCs), which are beneficial for exploration of advanced steady-state plasma operation modes. Therefore, EAST is operating device of great relevance to ITER. EAST has a major radius of 1.85 m, a minor radius of 0.45 m, a maximum toroidal field of 3.5 T, and a maximum plasma current of 1 MA. EAST recently has achieved 120 million degrees of electron temperature for 101 seconds. Moreover, it has achieved long-pulse operation for more than 1056 seconds.

NSTX-U

Princeton, New Jersey, USA

While still a magnetic-confinement fusion device, the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is different from devices such as DIII-D, KSTAR, and EAST in the sense that is based on the spherical tokamak concept. Therefore, its aspect ratio A, defined as the ratio between the major radius R and minor radius a, is lower than conventional tokamaks. NSTX has a major radius of 0.85 m, a minor radius of 0.68 m, a maximum toroidal field of 0.3 T, and a maximum plasma current of 1.4 MA. NSTX started operating in 1999 for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. In 2012, NSTX was shut down as part of an upgrade program and became NSTX-U (U for Upgrade). After a short operation after the upgrade in 2016, NSTX-U was shut down to recover from coil problems. While still in recover, NSTX-U sustains a vigorous research program focused on: 1- exploration of the capability of the spherical facility to produce stable, high-performance plasmas with low-cost magnetic fields. 2- development of the understanding and tools required to start-up and sustain such plasmas non-inductively, meaning without what is known as a “solenoid” magnet to start the process. 3- development of techniques to handle and control the waste heat from fusion reactions. As one of the collaborating institutions, members of the LU Plasma Control Laboratory are permanently stationed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.

ITER

Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France

The most immediate next step in the international fusion roadmap is the construction and operation of the ITER tokamak, a multibillion-dollar device whose construction is underway as the result of an unprecedented cooperative effort by governments around the world, including the European Union, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Japan, India, and the United States. The ITER tokamak, which will be the first tokamak to produce more energy than it consumes, will demonstrate the physics understanding and several key technologies necessary to maintain burning plasmas (i.e., plasmas having sustained high levels of fusion reactions).