Tore Supra
Coordinates: 43°42′13″N 5°45′54″E / 43.703626°N 5.764968°E
| Type | Tokamak |
|---|---|
| Operation date | 1988– |
| Major radius | 2.25 m |
| Minor Radius | 0.70 m |
| Magnetic field | 4.5 T (toroidal) |
| Heating | 20 MW |
| Location | Cadarache, France |
Tore Supra is a French tokamak that began operating after the discontinuation of TFR (Tokamak of Fontenay-aux-Roses) and of Petula (in Grenoble). Its name comes from the words torus and superconductor, as Tore Supra was for a long time the only tokamak of this size with superconducting toroidal magnets, allowing the creation of a strong permanent toroidal magnetic field.
Tore Supra is situated at the nuclear research center of Cadarache, Bouches-du-Rhône in Provence, one of the sites of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique. It started operation in 1988. It has a goal of creating long-duration plasma;
It now holds the record of the longest plasma duration time for a tokamak (6 minutes 30 seconds[1] and over 1000 MJ of energy injected and extracted in 2003), and it allows to test critical parts of equipment such as plasma facing wall components or superconducting magnets that will be used in its successor, ITER.
Device parameters
As of 1988:
- Major plasma radius (machine centre to plasma centre) : 2.25 m
- Minor plasma radius: 0.70 m
- Toroidal magnetic field on the center of the plasma core: 4.5 T
- Plasma current: 1.7 MA
- Longest plasma discharge (predicted): 1000 s
- Auxiliary plasma heating (ion and electron cyclotron resonance heating and lower hybrid current drive): 20 MW
2006 parameters essentially the same [2] also:
- Weight of NbTi superconductor : ~45 tonnes
- Maximum magnetic field on the conductor : 9.0 T
- Total magnetic energy : 600 MJ
- Weight of magnetic circuit : 830 tonnes
Operation 1988-2010
By 1998 it had produced over 20,000 plasma shots of up to 2 minutes duration.[3]
Between 2000 and 2002 the vacuum chamber was completely renewed/relined.[4] increasing the power extraction by active cooling to 25 MW (to allow longer plasma duration).[5]
In Dec 2003 it achieved a record 6.5 minute plasma[1] This was plasma shot #32299, Lower hybrid power ~2.9 MW, total injected energy ~1.1 GJ, plasma current ~500 kA, nl ~ 2.6x1019/m2.[3]
WEST
After an upgrade (to test Tungsten plasma-facing materials) it is called WEST (Tungsten (or Wolfram in German) Environment in Steady-state Tokamak).[6]
The WEST Project started in March 2013.[7]
It should be operational in 2016.[8]
References
- 1 2 6.5-minute pulse in Tore Supra. Dec 2003
- ↑ THE TORE SUPRA TOKAMAK
- 1 2 Tore Supra, description, results. Select 6. main/major results
- ↑ Chambre à vide de Tore Supra
- ↑ Tore Supra, description, results. Select 4. Extracting power
- ↑ WEST winds up for fusion. Dec 2015
- ↑ At 25 Tore Supra is looking WESTward
- ↑ Another facility for EUROfusion: WEST
External links
- Tore Supra Official Site EURATOM-CEA (in French)
- Tore Supra Official Site - in English
- Tore Supra photos
- Tore Supra video gallery
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