The Tokamak

First conceived by scientists Andrei Sakharov and Igor Tamm, the tokamak (Russian acronym for "toroidal magnetic chamber") is a design for a magnetic field confinement chamber that has been drawing attention from fusion researchers since the early 1950s. Since then, tokamaks have been built all over the world. Such reactors include the DIII-D in California, the JET (Joint European Torus) in England, the JT (Japanese Tokamak) in Japan, the T-15 in Russia, and the Tore-Supra in France.

The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor - The Tokamak - operated at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey is considered the most powerful such machine. The Tokamak is unique as a magnetic confinement chamber because it has 2 electric field lines that help confine the plasma. An electric current called the "toroidal magnetic field component" spirals around the main donut, or "torus" shaped vessel. The other current, called the "poloidal magnetic field component," runs through the actual plasma.

Diagram of The Tokamak	Electric Fields in The Tokamak	The Tokamak Confinement System
The Three Above Images Courtesy Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.