University of Tsukuba, Plasma Research Center
Mirror Machine: Creating a sun on the Earth
In the University of Tsukuba’s Plasma Research Center (PRC), researchers are using the world’s largest tandem mirror device GAMMA 10/PDX to study plasma physics and fusion science - with the aim of the realizing a future fusion reactor.
Since the inception of the Plasma Research Center in 1979, this research focus has expanded. With initial focus on achieving a high ion temperature, the strategy changed to the study of plasma transport and boundary plasma control.
DEMO (DEMOnstration Power Station) is a proposed nuclear fusion power station, an international collaboration aimed at changing the way energy is produced. The research - from simulation to fundamental research and validation - at Plasma Research Center is essential in bridging the gap in our understanding of how resilient the first wall of a proposed fusion reactor will be. To do this, researchers at Tsukuba are looking at plasma transport and boundary plasma control in a number of ways.
In order to replicate the conditions of a fusion reactor, the team has also developed high power gyrotrons. These are used for electron heating and production of electrostatic potential for plasma confinement - the most promising power source for electron heating of fusion plasma. Researchers are currently working on a Multi-megawatt Microwave Source in the Extremely High-Frequency Region. In boundary plasma control researchers expose end-loss plasma from GAMMA 10/PDX to a V-shaped tungsten target in the diverter simulation experimental module (D-module) to simulate the diverter of tokamaks and stellarators. The temperature of the end-loss plasma is comparable to the boundary plasma of DEMO, a unique capability of PRC.
To further ensure the goal of realizing a fusion reactor is realisable, the Plasma Research Center is actively promoting inter-university research under the collaboration program of Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS).