Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar

Landmark Achievement in ADITYA-U Tokamak Plasma Discharge

The ADITYA-U Tokamak at the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) has recorded a breakthrough in plasma operations. Plasma operations has been successfully achieved with extended plasma pulse length beyond 0.6 s, achieving a new record maximum pulse length of ~0.643 s (Shot #39231) with improved plasma current flattop in pure Ohmic Hydrogen circular plasmas (without LH). This is the longest plasma pulse achieved so far in the history of ADITYA/ADITYA-U tokamak operations. This achievement was realized through systematic optimization of the operating conditions, with the utilized volt-sec gradually increased from 67% to 72% of the total available 1.2 Vs. This includes improved wall conditioning using Ar + H2 gas-mixture GDC, optimization of the resistance setting in the Ohmic circuit, and pre-programmed tuning of the Ip references and vertical field. As a result, a sequence of increasingly longer and repeatable discharges was obtained: 0.603 s, 0.624 s, and finally 0.643 s, demonstrating clear improvement in both plasma performance and operational reproducibility. Importantly, these long-duration discharges are now being achieved repeatedly and reliably, reflecting substantial improvement in machine conditioning, operational robustness, and plasma control capability. The recent achievement further strengthens confidence in the optimized operating scenario developed by the team and provides a strong basis for future long-pulse plasma operation in ADITYA-U.

प्लाज़्मा अनुसंधान संस्थान