A success of Czech scientists: System of 68 Langmuir probes designed by the IPP team are the part of the WEST project

 

There has been a long standing and a very productive collaboration over the past two decades between IPP of the CAS and the IRFM CEA. It has involved experiments first on the CASTOR and then on the COMPASS tokamak, as well as the Tore Supra tokamak. In addition, the collaboration has been developed in the field of theory and modelling in support of the ITER project on numerous topics ranging from advanced Langmuir probes to extreme power fluxes onto the plasma-facing components of fusion reactors, plasma-wave interaction, etc. The delivery of the system of 68 Langmuir probes - an in-kind contribution of  IPP to the WEST project - represents a continuation of this fruitful collaboration.

 

The engineers of the COMPASS tokamak department started working on this project together with French researchers approximately a year ago. The 68 Langmuir probes were designed for the WEST lower divertor and inboard bumper limiter to measure extreme particle and power fluxes in these high heat flux regions. “ The WEST platform appreciate the commitment of the IPP team to this project, not only for the high quality of the production and its timely delivery, but also for providing a few prototypes early on that allowed them to validate the technology by high heat flux tests in the GLADIS device”, says
A. Becoulet the head of IRFM. Thanks to this cooperation the WEST Project will soon make the first measurements with the new probe system and first results will certainly bring new insight to the WEST scientific programme.