Engineers took immediate action and concluded that damages were limited, since the incident happened at low current. But an unexpected turn of events in March changed all plans due to a short circuit at the terminals of one of the machine’s largest poloidal field coils measuring more than 12 m in diameter. The Toroidal Field coils, supplied by the EU, had successfully reached the maximum current of 25 700 ampere, and a first Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating plasma had been produced. The first results were reassuring and in line with machine’s design. Towards the end of 2020 the team of engineers started testing its performance aiming for the big crescendo in the first quarter of 2021. In 2021, after almost 11 years from the production of its first pieces of equipment, the device was ready to be switched on.
The sound project management and the absence of any political wrangling have shaped the ethos of this project. This scientific partnership has received praise for its smooth, dynamic, and efficient modus operandi. JT-60SA is the fruit of collaboration between Europe and Japan relying on the know-how of laboratories, and companies determined to test further the various technologies to harness fusion.
In the chain of knowledge, it would provide answers and lessons that would feed into ITER-next in line to take the lead. When the scaffolding of JT-60SA was lifted, after assembly was completed, there was heightened anticipation in the fusion community that scientists would soon start to operate the most powerful fusion device to date.
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