Current status of the KSTAR construction Original Research Article

The KSTAR is a superconducting tokamak under construction at the National Fusion Research Center (NFRC) in Daejeon, Korea. The project, of which mission aims at a steady-state operation and advanced tokamak physics, is under peak phase in the fabrication and assembly works. The fabrication of the major structures such as vacuum vessel and port, cryostat, thermal shields, and gravity support has been already completed. The manufacture and testing of the 30 superconducting magnets are actively being progressed. Sixteen toroidal field coils, four large poloidal field coils, and four central solenoid coils are completed until April 18, 2006. Cool-down and current charging tests of a real-sized prototype TF coil and a pair of CS model coil have been carried out to verify the operational feasibility of the KSTAR coils. The assembly of the device has begun from the beginning of 2004. Now, the cryostat base, gravity support, vacuum vessel body, vacuum vessel thermal shields, and all of the 16 toroidal field magnets are completed in the assembly on the tokamak pit. Assembly finish is scheduled for August 2007. This paper will present detail progress of the manufacturing and assembly of the KSTAR tokamak.