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News from MAST - December 2007

 
 

The present MAST engineering break is nearing completion. In-vessel work is expected to be finished before Christmas, ready for pump-down early in the New Year, followed by high temperature baking of the MAST vessel. The final in-vessel tasks include a detailed geometrical survey (e.g. to aid diagnostic alignment), various diagnostic tests and checks plus vessel cleaning.
   
 

View of two of the twelve ELM control coils now installed in MAST (one of the NBI beam dumps is also visible).

Installation of the full set of 12 ELM control coils inside the MAST vessel, 6 upper and 6 lower, is now complete. The ELM coil power supplies have been delivered and successfully tested. These coils will also be used to excite Toroidal Alfven Eigenmode (TAE) instabilities, in order to study their damping rates, using a different set of power supplies which can operate at up to 0.5MHz. A new Culham Fusion Research Fellow Eric Nardon, who previously worked at CEA Cadarache during his PhD studies, has joined the MAST team to work on ELM control with Andrew Kirk and others.
   
 

A second new JET-style neutral beam injector (PINI) has been installed on MAST during the present break. The mechanical work on both injectors is essentially complete and they have been pumped down in preparation for operation. Substantial power supply modifications have been implemented in order to accommodate the new PINI and testing is being carried out prior to a prolonged period of high voltage commissioning which will start immediately after Christmas. High power conditioning of the PINIs is expected to begin in February.
   
 

The MAST control room is being refurbished for the 2008 campaign. The old, inefficient and noisy air conditioning has been replaced by a more modern system. Unused cubicles and the lead shielding between the control room and the COMPASS-D tokamak area have been removed. New visual displays are being installed and remote participation facilities are being upgraded.

 

The MAST control room stripped bare prior to refurbishment.
   
 

The new MAST Programme Advisory Committee met for the first time at Culham on 18-19th October. The committee members are distinguished fusion scientists from around the world including the USA and Japan. The PAC complimented the MAST team on the high quality of their presentations and gave much detailed and valuable advice on the future programme.
   
  The MAST team was represented at the Sixth IEA Large Tokamak Workshop (W66) on ‘Implementation of the ITPA Co-ordinated Research Recommendations’ held at Culham Science Centre 29-30th November. This annual meeting, at which co-ordinated experiments are discussed and agreed, is attended by representatives of all the world’s major tokamaks as well as the chair persons of the ITPA (International Tokamak Physics Activity) topical groups. The MAST team is involved in a large number of joint experiments with other tokamak teams around the world.