Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility (APFRF)

Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and the stars. If harnessed on Earth, it could provide millions of years of greenhouse gas‐free, safe, baseload power. The APFRF is located at the Research School of Physics and Engineering within the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. The APFRF is a uniquely versatile plasma research facility andis the Australian focus of basic experimental research on magnetically confined plasma, important in developing fusion energy, a clean, virtually inexhaustible energy source that powers the sun and stars. The facility is capable of accessing a wide range of plasma configurations or shapes and utilising associated state-of-the-art power and measurement systems that allow fundamental studies of plasma, the fourth state of matter.

Key facts

•State: ACT

•Lead institute: ANU

•Project Status: in progress

•Australian Government contribution:

$7 million from the Education Investment Fund Super Science Initiative
$900,000 from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy 2013 programme.

Project deliverables

The mission of the facility is to:

•perform research into the basic properties of magnetically-confined, high-temperature plasma as part of an international program, whose ultimate aim is ecologically sustainable power generation by the controlled fusion of hydrogen isotopes

•ensure that Australia is intellectually and technologically equipped to benefit from a future fusion power industry, with emphasis on the export of high-technology components needed by fusion power stations

•maintain Australia’s internationally recognised position of excellence in basic plasma physics and applications such as plasma diagnostics and plasma materials interaction and plasma processing technologies.

The two principal components of the APFRF are theH-1 heliac, and the ‘MAGPIE’ machine (Magnetised Plasma Interaction Experiment) for plasma-materials interaction studies.

The H-1 heliac is the centrepiece of Australia’s contribution to research into magnetic confinement fusion. It is the only high temperature plasma device in Australia and the only stellarator in South East Asia.

The APFRF device ‘MAGPIE’ is a linear magnetised plasma device, a satellite system which shares the heating, magnet power supply and cooling systems of H-1. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the study of the effects of exposure of material targets to high power plasma fluxes.

Access

Open access. No charge is applied if users have no grant allocation for facility usage.

Participating organisations and partners

•The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

•The Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering

•The ANU

International

The APFRF’s reputation for world-class innovation and research excellence has resulted in significant international demand for Australian technologies pioneered at the APFRF and collaborative relationships with researchers from China, Japan, Korea, Germany and the United States.

Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility (APFRF)