Tokamak Tore Supra

Magnetically-controlled thermonuclear fusion research facilities such as the Tore Supra tokamak at CEA's Cadarache research center (Bouches-du-Rhône, France) are home to a wide range of equipment in which electrical engineering and power electronics play a dominant role, and are sometimes pushed to their current limits. These include

• large superconducting magnets;

• large cooled copper magnets;

• high-power thyristor power supplies (320 MVA installed);

• microwave sources of several megawatts ;

• multi-megawatt accelerated atom injectors;

• cryogenics, heat extraction and ultra-high vacuum pumping systems;

etc.

The components developed for these applications are numerous and often original: a superconductor for variable magnetic fields, a static circuit breaker with high breaking capacity for direct current (0.7 GVA), 2 MW tetrodes, 500 kW klystrons, 500 kW gyrotrons, an electromechanical pump operating at very low temperatures (3 K), and so on. Tore Supra is a good example of the diversity of applications for electricity, and a testament to the constant progress of the techniques mastered by electricians.