Status of large helical device project

The status of the large helical device (LHD) project is reported. The LHD is now under construction at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) as the largest helical device in the world employing superconducting magnets. It will help to develop the physics and technology for the confinement and steady state operation of high temperature plasmas. The results of research and development are described for the superconductor and divertor. Plasma diagnostics are discussed as are the heating devices: electron cyclotron heating (ECH) using a megawatt class gyrotron, ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating and neutral beam injection (NBI) using negative ion sources.