KSTAR: far better results than originally envisioned

8 Apr 2013 - Seyoung Park, National Fusion Research Institute of Korea
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The KSTAR Program Advisory Committee (PAC) has provided critical analysis and constructive counseling for KSTAR's experimental campaign since 2009. The PAC members convened in Daejeon, Korea from 20-22 March.
The National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) held its 5th KSTAR Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting in Daejeon, Korea from 20-22 March 2013. The KSTAR PAC was first established in 2009 and has provided critical analysis of each year's experimental campaign and constructive counseling to the KSTAR campaign ever since.
 
This year, eight world-renowned fusion scientists and researchers, including Hartmut Zohm (IPP, Germany), Mickey Wade (General Atomics, USA), and Joseph Snipes (ITER Organization) were invited as PAC members and reviewed the 2012 KSTAR campaign results, 2013 research plan and beyond. PAC members shared their critical views and comments with KSTAR management and researchers; this input can now be utilized to steer the upcoming campaign and as a basis for long-term KSTAR research planning.
 
The chairperson of the KSTAR PAC meeting, H. Park (POSTECH, Korea), stated that the PAC found that the 2012 KSTAR campaign had achieved remarkable progress in spite of short run time and scarce resources.
 
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The 2012 KSTAR campaign had achieved remarkable progress in spite of short run time and scarce resources.
It is recommended that KSTAR research should fully exploit its unique innovative research tools such as IVCC and 3D imaging systems to explore new research areas which are not accessible in other devices while pursuing the goal of steady state, high beta operation.
 
"It is widely expected that KSTAR will meet the expectations of world fusion communities since it has produced far better results than originally envisioned. In order to ensure the path for forefront KSTAR research, it is critical to have the PAC check on the progress and results of the campaign and provide the counseling necessary to establish an efficient experiment," commented President Kwon of NFRI.
 
KSTAR will run its 2013 campaign from June until October, including collaborative experiments for the two months of August and September.