Physics:SUNIST

SUNIST

Sino-UNIted Spherical Tokamak
Device Type	Spherical tokamak
Location	Beijing, China
Affiliation	Tsinghua University
Technical specifications
Major Radius	30 cm (12 in)
Minor Radius	23 cm (9.1 in)
Magnetic field	0.15 T (1,500 G) (toroidal)
Plasma current	30 kA
History
Year(s) of operation	2002 – present
Links
Website	SUNIST Laboratory

SUNIST (or Sino-UNIted Spherical Tokamak) is a small spherical tokamak in the Department of Engineering Physics of Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

The main parameters of SUNIST

Parameter	Symbol	Value
Major radius	R	30 cm
Minor radius	a	23 cm
Elongation ratio	κ	1.6
On-axis magnetic field	B0	1500 gauss (0.15 T)
Typical plasma current	IP	30 kA

Current research activities

Alfven wave current drive experiments in spherical tokamak plasmas Alfven wave can generate toroidal plasma current without density limits. This is very favourable for spherical tokamak plasmas, which have very high dielectric constants that makes LHCD or ECCD very hard.

References

• A Research Program of Spherical Tokamak in China
• Initial Plasma Startup Test on SUNIST Spherical Tokamak
• News about the construction of the SUNIST shperical tokamak (in Chinese)