TCV tokamak, our star
A 3D image of the inside of TCV tokamak © The Laboratory for Experimental Museology (eM+)
The Sun is the source of nearly all energy on Earth and is responsible for sustaining life as we know it. This immense source of energy is produced by the fusion of hydrogen into helium in the star’s core, following Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2.
At the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), we experimentally and theoretically study techniques to create and maintain the conditions necessary for fusion to occur, with the goal of obtaining a safe, abundant and reliable source of energy on Earth. These conditions are explored in a controlled environment using a toroidally (doughnut) shaped machine called the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV). TCV uses magnetic fields to confine hydrogen plasma at temperatures of up to 100,000,000 C, enabling scientists to better understand the physics of fusion plasmas and the engineering of designs proposed for future, power plant size devices like ITER and DEMO.
At the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), we experimentally and theoretically study techniques to create and maintain the conditions necessary for fusion to occur, with the goal of obtaining a safe, abundant and reliable source of energy on Earth. These conditions are explored in a controlled environment using a toroidally (doughnut) shaped machine called the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV). TCV uses magnetic fields to confine hydrogen plasma at temperatures of up to 100,000,000 C, enabling scientists to better understand the physics of fusion plasmas and the engineering of designs proposed for future, power plant size devices like ITER and DEMO.
New Plasma Shapes
With its supreme flexibility in plasma shaping, TCV is uniquely capable of exploring plasma performance in a broad range of shapes such as: Negative triangularity, snowflake, jellyfish and many more
Plasma heating with ECRH
TCV is testing the microwave heating system for ITER and other next generation fusion experiments, to deliver controlled, localised heating of the plasma up to fusion temperatures.
Measuring Performance
Explore the extensive set of diagnostics which are part of the state of the art platform for testing innovative diagnostic technologies hosted on TCV