Assembly procedures and thermal and mechanical performances during the commissioning phase of the FTU machine

The basic idea in the design of the FTU (Frascati Tokamak Upgrade), a compact medium-high field tokamak machine, is to try to reach a range of plasma parameters of great thermonuclear interest at reasonable financial expenditure. In the FTU, the energy confinement properties are combined with the strong plasma heating obtained, injecting up to 8 MW of radiofrequency power in the lower hybrid electron mode (8 GHz). A monolithic toroidal magnet supporting the vacuum vessel and the poloidal field windings constitutes the basic mechanical structure of the FTU. The main engineering features of the toroidal machine, the remote handling tools for cutting and welding the vacuum vessel, and the machine assembly installation procedures are described. The first engineering experimental results are illustrated. Machine assembly and installation procedures are described