Steady State Superconducting Tokamak (SST-1)

Steady State Superconducting Tokamak (SST-1) at Institute for Plasma Research (lPR) is a national initiative at developing an experimental facility to study plasmas in steady state in the run up to future thermo-nuclear fusion devices through magnetic confinement. SST-1 has a physics mandate to study steady state plasmas in circular and elongated configurations assisted with RF auxiliary systems and feedback controls. SST-1 has also several technological and engineering elements comprising of large current carrying high field large superconducting magnets, large cryogenic systems, large UHV vacuum systems, AC/DC power systems, particle and heat exhaust systems as well as auxiliary heating systems. SST-1 has recently got commissioned with the 'First Plasma' being obtained in repeatable and reliable fashion in it on June 20, 2013 following a long and systematic engineering validation phase. This talk will elaborate the experiences with SST-1 leading to its successful commissioning, the present status of SST-1 and the future plans with SST-1. (author)