Chinese Academy of Sciences (PDF) - low res version

CREDITS: (FROM TOP) COURTESY OF THE INSTITUTE OF MODERN PHYSICS, CAS;
COURTESY OF THE INSTITUTE OF PLASMA PHYSICS, CAS
Research CAS/In Focus
The Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou.
Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou
The Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL) comprises of
the superconducting ECR ion source, the 1.7 m Sector Focused
Cyclotron (SFC, K=69), the large Sector-Separated Cyclotron (SSC,
K=450), the Cooler-Storage Main Ring (CSRm) and the Cooler-
Storage Experimental Ring (CSRe) of the newly built Cooler-Storage
Ring (CSR), and the radioactive ion beam lines (RIBLL1 and RIBLL2)
and experimental terminals. It is capable of providing ion beams from
protons to uranium with energies of up to 2,800 MeV/u and 1,000
MeV/u for protons and heavy ions, respectively. The studies in heavy
ion physics and its related disciplines being carried out at HIRFL include
fundamental research on heavy ion nuclear physics, radioactive ion
beam physics, nuclear astrophysics, high energy density physics,
highly charged atomic physics, hadronic physics, and experimental
research in aerospace science and technology, materials science, and
biomedicine.
A number of fundamental research achievements have come out of the
HIRFL accelerator complex, including the first direct mass measurements
of short-lived nuclides, which provides the key to understanding the rapid
proton capture process (rp process), one of the nuclear reactions that
may be responsible for heavy element formation in the universe. Relative
mass precision up to 10 -6 has been reached. In applied research, clinical
trials for tumor therapy, which began in 2006, have successfully treated
103 shallow-seated and 73 deep-seated
tumor patients.
The National Laboratory for the Heavy
Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (NHIRFL)
was established in 1991. NHIRFL has
provided advanced experimental conditions
to over 160 users both in China and
abroad, and has set up cooperative relationship
with 40 well-known universities,
research institutions, and high-technology
enterprises.
Contact: Professor Liang Qiang,
liangqiang@impcas.ac.cn
Experimental Advanced
Superconducting Tokamak
Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak
(EAST) was designed based on the latest
tokamak achievements of the past century.
Its mission is to conduct cutting-edge physics
and engineering research on advanced tokamak
fusion reactors. This will provide a scientific
base for experimental reactor design and
construction, and promote the advancement
of plasma physics and related disciplines and
technologies. It has three distinct features: a
noncircular cross-section, fully superconducting
magnets, and fully actively water cooled
plasma facing components (PFCs) which will be
beneficial for exploring advanced steady-state
plasma operation modes. Experience from the
construction of, and research at, EAST will provide a foundation for the
construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project
(ITER).
Aiming at long pulse plasma discharges, a series of experimental techniques
have been developed or improved on EAST in recent years, such as
ion cyclotron heating, plasma diagnostics and control, and lithium wall conditioning.
Additionally, the effective heating and current drive were realized
under a variety of plasma configurations, and the divertor operation was explored
in the steady-state mode. Extensive international cooperation focusing
on EAST shows that this project has become one of the most important
physical experiment platforms for high-parameters long-pulse plasma.
At present, EAST also provides machine time to researchers outside the
Institute of Plasma Physics for different research purposes. Long-standing
cooperative projects include: radio frequency heating research by the
National Institute of Fusion Science (NIFS, Japan) and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT, United States); electron cyclotron emission,
charge compound, and exchange spectrum research by the Fusion Research
Center at Texas University (FRC, United States); balance control and
advanced tokamak operation mode by the General Atomics (GA, United
States). In the last EAST experiment campaign, over 100 foreign scientists
participated in the experiment.
Contact: Professor Dong Shaohua, shdong@ipp.ac.cn
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST)
31