First auxiliary coil from the USA now installed

USA's contribution to Wendelstein 7-X / millions invested in German fusion project

Now in place is the first of the total of five auxiliary coils which Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory are getting produced for Germany's Wendelstein 7-X fusion research experiment. Since 24 October 2012 this component, weighing a good ton, has been fixed to the outer shell of the large-scale device being built by Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) at Greifswald.

The five shop window-size coils on the outer shell of the plant are supposed to help with precise adjustment of the magnetic fields on the plasma edge. They ensure that the outer contour of the plasma maintains exactly the shape desired during later experiments. The basic data for the components came from the IPP; engineers and scientists from Princeton took over the construction and supervised industrial production.

The 4.3 million dollar investment is the largest contribution to the USA’s scientific cooperation on Wendelstein 7-X. Overall, the USA is investing more than 7.5 million dollars in construction of the plant.