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The Center for Fusion Science (CFS) is affiliated
with the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP),
which was officially founded in 1965 and is the
oldest and largest institute focusing on
investigation of plasma physics and magnetically
confined nuclear fusion in China. The assigned task
of CFS is R&D on the realization of fusion energy.
CFS consists of eight research divisions, and there
are 285 personnel, including senior academic staff,
research scientists and engineers, technical support
personnel, and administrative staff. As one of the
most important laboratories participating in the
international thermo-nuclear fusion research in
China, CFS’s research subject is magnetically
confined fusion, including theoretical studies of
plasma physics and nuclear fusion science,
investigation of fusion materials. Since the first
linear pinch device was constructed, various
experimental facilities for magnetically controlled
fusion research have been developed in CFS including
Pulse Compress Mirror, Stellarator (1971), MM-2
(super-conducting magnetic mirror, 1972), RFP
(reversed-field pinch, 1990), HL-1 tokamak (1984)
and HL-1M tokamak (1994). Great progress and
important contributions to nuclear fusion and plasma
physics have been made on these devices. In December
2002, HL-2A (the first divertor tokamak in China)
was put into operation, and some ITER-relevant
researches were undertaken.
So far, important progress has been achieved on
HL-2A, and the operation parameter regime has been
greatly extended. The plasma current in HL-2A
tokamak has reached 450kA, and the plasma duration
is up to 4200ms. A number of achievements have been
made on the physics of plasma transport, plasma
turbulence and energetic particles. The heating and
current drive systems in the HL-2A tokamak include 3
MW Electron Cyclotron Wave (ECW), 1.5 MW Neutral
Beam (NB), and 1 MW Lower Hybrid Wave (LHW).
High-power heating and current drive experiments
equipped with all these systems improved plasma
confinement. In the spring of 2009, ELMy H-mode
discharges were obtained in the HL-2A divertor
configuration. It is a milestone in the history of
magnetic confinement fusion experiment research in
China.
Extensive cooperation has been started or
strengthened with many research institutes and
universities from China and abroad, including
Germany, Japan, USA, France, Italy, Russia, UK,
Netherlands, Korea, and India.
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