The Tokamak de Fontenay-aux-Roses (TFR) was the first French

tokamak A tokamak (; russian: токамáк; otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰢𐰴, Toḳamaḳ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being d ...

, built in a

research centre A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...

of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in

Fontenay-aux-Roses Fontenay-aux-Roses () is a Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. In 1880 a girls school École Normale Supérieure was opened in the town. It was one of ...

, a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. Roughly the same size as the contemporary Soviet T-3 and American

Symmetrical Tokamak Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definit ...

, but had a larger internal plasma volume and a much more powerful power supply that drove plasma currents up to 400,000 Amps for as long as half a second. Completed in 1973, it remained the world's most powerful tokamak until 1976 when it was surpassed by the

Princeton Large Torus The Princeton Large Torus (or PLT), was an early tokamak built at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). It was one of the first large scale tokamak machines, and among the most powerful in terms of current and magnetic fields. Originally ...

. Among the major discoveries made on TFR was the concept of "disruptions", potentially damaging events that eject the plasma from the center and lead to an event known as "runaway electrons". In 1975, such an event burned holes through the vacuum vessel, requiring extensive repairs. It was followed by

Tore Supra WEST, Tungsten (chemical symbol "W") Environment in Steady-state Tokamak, (formerly Tore Supra) is a French tokamak that originally began operating as Tore Supra after the discontinuation of TFR (Tokamak of Fontenay-aux-Roses) and of Petula (in G ...

at Cadarache.

References

External links

CEA official website
(in English)

(in French) Tokamaks Laboratories in France {{nuclear-stub