Tore Supra
Encyclopedia
Tore Supra is a French tokamak
that began operating after the discontinuation of TFR (Tokamak of Fontenay-aux-Roses
) and of Petula (in Grenoble
). Its name comes from the words torus
and superconductor
, as Tore Supra is the only one of the largest tokamaks to have superconducting toroidal magnets, allowing the creation of a strong permanent toroidal magnetic field
.
Tore Supra is situated at the nuclear research center of Cadarache
, Bouches-du-Rhône
in Provence
, one of the sites of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
. It started operation in 1988. It has a goal of creating long-duration plasma; it now holds the record of the longest plasma duration time for a tokamak (6 minutes 30 seconds and over 1000 MJ of energy injected and extracted in 2003), and it allows to test critical parts of equipment such as plasma facing wall components or superconducting magnets that will be used in its successor, ITER
.
Tokamak
A tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
that began operating after the discontinuation of TFR (Tokamak of Fontenay-aux-Roses
Fontenay-aux-Roses
Fontenay-aux-Roses is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.École Normale Supérieure was a girls school located in the area....
) and of Petula (in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
). Its name comes from the words torus
Torus
In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle...
and superconductor
Superconductivity
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance occurring in certain materials below a characteristic temperature. It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum...
, as Tore Supra is the only one of the largest tokamaks to have superconducting toroidal magnets, allowing the creation of a strong permanent toroidal magnetic field
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...
.
Tore Supra is situated at the nuclear research center of Cadarache
Cadarache
The CEA Cadarache facility is a French scientific research centre which specialises in nuclear energy research. It is located in the commune of Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Bouches-du-Rhône, in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur...
, Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, one of the sites of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
. It started operation in 1988. It has a goal of creating long-duration plasma; it now holds the record of the longest plasma duration time for a tokamak (6 minutes 30 seconds and over 1000 MJ of energy injected and extracted in 2003), and it allows to test critical parts of equipment such as plasma facing wall components or superconducting magnets that will be used in its successor, ITER
ITER
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
.
Device parameters
- Major plasma radius: 2.38 m
- Minor plasma radius: 0.72 m
- Toroidal magnetic field on the center of the plasma core: 3.8 TTesla (unit)The tesla is the SI derived unit of magnetic field B . One tesla is equal to one weber per square meter, and it was defined in 1960 in honour of the inventor, physicist, and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla...
- Plasma current: 1.4 MAAmpereThe ampere , often shortened to amp, is the SI unit of electric current and is one of the seven SI base units. It is named after André-Marie Ampère , French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics...
- Longest plasma discharge (predicted): 1000 s
- Auxiliary plasma heating (ion and electron cyclotron resonance heating and lower hybrid current drive): 20 MWWattThe watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
External links
- Tore Supra official site EURATOM-CEACommissariat à l'Énergie AtomiqueThe Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
- Tore Supra photos
- Tore Supra video gallery