The ITER machine. The man
in the bottom shows the scale.
Introduction
The long-term objective of fusion research is to harness the nuclear energy provided by the fusion of light atoms to help meet mankind´s future energy needs. This research, which is carried out by scientists from all over the word, has made tremendous progress over the last decades. The fusion community is now in the process of constructing the key experiment in this development, ITER, in Cadarache, France. ITER's aim is to show fusion could be used to generate electrical power, and to gain the necessary data to design and operate the first electricity-producing plant.
The ITER machine. The man
in the bottom shows the scale.
Because ITER is as far as possible like an electricity-generating fusion power plant - for instance it will generate 500 MW of fusion power, ten times more then the energy input needed to keep the plasma at the right temperature - there is concern that it may not be experientally flexible enough to quickly find the best way to optimise plasma performance. Thus, as part of the negotiations for the siting of ITER construction, the international fusion development programme was widened to include a "satellite tokamak" within this "broader approach". JT-60SA is the result.
JT-60SA has the objectives of helping ITER quickly identify how to optimise plasma performance, in particular to identify and explore how to operate fusion power reactor plasmas in the demonstration electricity-generating power station (DEMO) that should follow ITER. The emphasis of JT-60SA's design is thus on ways to extend plasma pulse lengths towards steady state.
JT-60SA will be constructed in Naka (near Tokyo), Japan. It replaces the JT-60 Upgrade experiment recently operating there, using the buildings and basic site infrastructure. The machine confines a plasma similar in size to that of JET, using superconducting magnets, as in ITER, to reduce power consumption.
The project is constructed jointly through the Broader Approach Agreement and the Japanese National Research Programme on fusion. Europe (Euratom and voluntary contributors from within the Euratom countries) contributes half of the funding for the Broader Approach Agreement work. The owner and operator of the experiment will be the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).