The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), internal designation HT-7U (Hefei Tokamak 7 Upgrade), is an experimental superconducting tokamak

magnetic fusion energy Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with i ...

reactor in

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

, China. The Hefei Institutes of Physical Science is conducting the experiment for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It has operated since 2006. It is the first tokamak to employ superconducting toroidal and poloidal magnets. It aims for plasma pulses of up to 1,000 seconds. Since China is a member of the international

ITER ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy by replicating, on Earth ...

project, it is hoped that EAST will provide new impetus for its further development.

History

EAST followed China's first superconducting tokamak device, dubbed HT-7, built by the Institute of Plasma Physics in partnership with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in the early 1990s. The project was proposed in 1996 and approved in 1998. According to a 2003 schedule, buildings and site facilities were to be constructed by 2003. Tokamak assembly was to take place from 2003 through 2005. Construction was completed in March 2006 and on September 28, 2006, "first plasma" was achieved. According to official reports, the project's budget is

CNY The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 202 ...

¥300 million (approximately US$37 million), some 1/15 to 1/20 the cost of a comparable reactor built in other countries.

Phase I

On September 28, 2006, first plasma was achieved—the first test lasted nearly three seconds, and generated an electric current of 200 kiloamperes. By Jan 2007 "the reactor created a plasma lasting nearly five seconds and generating an electric current of 500 kilo amperes". On November 7, 2010, EAST achieved its first

H-mode High-confinement mode, or H-mode, is an operating mode possible in toroidal magnetic confinement fusion devices mostly tokamaks, but also in stellarators.H-mode High-confinement mode, or H-mode, is an operating mode possible in toroidal magnetic confinement fusion devices mostly tokamaks, but also in stellarators.ITER ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy by replicating, on Earth ...

consortium, and EAST is a testbed for ITER technologies. EAST was designed to test: * Superconducting Niobium-titanium poloidal field magnets, making it the first tokamak with superconducting toroidal and

poloidal The terms toroidal and poloidal refer to directions relative to a torus of reference. They describe a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the poloidal direction follows a small circular ring around the surface, while the toroidal direct ...

magnets * Non-inductive current drive * Pulses of up to 102 seconds with 0.5 MA plasma current * Schemes for controlling plasma instabilities through real-time diagnostics * Materials for diverters and plasma facing components * Operation with ''β''_N = 2 and confinement factor ''H''₈₉ > 2

Tokamak parameters

References

External links

* - Official website of EAST Fusion Facility - Chinese Academy of Science
People's Daily article

- Note that EAST is not the "world's first experimental nuclear fusion device".

{{coords, 31.91174, 117.14682, display=title Tokamaks Buildings and structures in Hefei Nuclear power in China ur:مصنوعی سورج

History

Phase I

Tokamak parameters

See also

References

External links