The Columbia University Tokamak for Education (CUTE) is a flexible low-aspect ratio tokamak being refurbished for use in education focused tokamak research.
CUTE Tokamak
The Columbia University Tokamak for Education (CUTE) device, formerly the HIT-II experiment at the University of Washington, is presently being refurbished at Columbia University to provide an education-focused flexible platform for developing and testing hands-on engagement with sub-scale fusion devices – in this case a tokamak.
Located on the 100-level of the Columbia Plasma Lab, with additional equipment on the basement level, its modest size of approximately 6’ x 10’, makes it suitable for educational interaction and training. The room containing the experiment has a large overhead crane for easy and repeatable maintenance operations. The device itself is driven with medium-voltage (~450 V) capacitor banks and programmable arrays of Switching Power Amplifiers (SPAs), enabling independent control of each of the devices 28 equilibrium and transformer coils. Extensive magnetic diagnostics (> 56 flux loops and > 74 Mirnov probes) make this an ideal platform for understanding the design of scenarios on magnetic confinement-based fusion power plants and associated engineering and operational considerations.
Once operational, we plan to enable remote operation of the device by off-site users (with minimal onsite support staff), to expand the reach beyond the New York area.
Scenario Development and Pulse Design
This project is a part of Columbia University's plasma control and scenario development research program. The work connects most closely to Columbia's work in equilibrium control and pulse design.