Construction of RFP device with minimized insulation gaps

In remodeling the RFP (Reversed Field Pinch) device TPE-2M [Y. Sato, K. Hayase, S. Kiyama, Realization of fast reversal time for toroidal field in TPE-2M, Proc. 20th SOFT (1998) pp. 707–710.], we adopted the thick stainless steel (SUS) vacuum chamber with minimized insulation gap/cut (one toroidal gap and no poloidal cut), which is expected to be highly resistant against a heavy heat flux, instead of a thin bellows chamber. Furthermore, the SUS chamber, combined with an aluminum shell, will increase the wall stabilization effect for equilibrium and fluctuation of RFP plasma. In this paper, the design and construction of new front-end system and the first results from testing and operation are described.