Overview of long pulse operation in the Large Helical Device

The Large Helical Device is the world's largest heliotron type helical system, with the plasma confining magnetic field being generated by only external superconducting coils. One of the main objectives of the LHD project is to sustain high temperature plasmas for a long time in steady state. The plasma vacuum vessel and the divertor are water cooled, and a heat load of 3 MW can be removed continuously. The NBI, ECH and ICRF heating systems, diagnostic instruments and data acquisition system are designed for long pulse operation. The present status of these systems and the recent experimental results of long pulse operation are reviewed. A steady state discharge with NBI was obtained for 35 s. The ECH discharge duration was extended to 120 s with a duty factor of 95%. Plasma sustainment by ICRF alone was achieved for 2 s. The performance of these long pulse operations is summarized. (author)