FPN06-10

China to Upgrade Superconducting Tokamak

February 2, 2006

China has constructed "an advanced new device," the EAST superconducting tokamak fusion experiment. Construction began a few years ago and experiments are expected to begin this summer. The device will be an upgrade of the HT-7 tokamak at the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province. The device reportedly will be somewhat larger than the largest fusion device currently operating in the U.S. The U. S., however, has never built a superconducting tokamak fusion experiment. Superconducting magnetic coils are required for fusion experiments to approach steady-state conditions. The ITER experimental fusion reactor, to be built in Caderache, France, will be a superconducting tokamak, but on a much larger scale than EAST. EAST experiments, however, are expected to make important scientific contributions well in advance of ITER operation.