Saturn-1 (stellarator)

Saturn-1
Device type	Stellarator
Location	Kharkov (Kharkiv), Soviet Union (Ukraine)
Affiliation	Kharkov Physiotechnical Institute
Technical specifications
Major radius	35.6 cm (14.0 in)
Minor radius	8.6 cm (3.4 in)
Magnetic field	<1.0 T (10,000 G)
Plasma temperature	< 1.7 keV (electrons); < 1.0 keV (ions)
Plasma density	2×1016 m−3
History
Year(s) of operation	March 1970–c. 1980

Saturn-1 is a concluded torsatron-type stellarator magnetic confinement fusion experiment at the Kharkov Physiotechnical Institute in Kharkov in the Soviet Union,^[5] which began operating in 1970.^[1]^[2]^[6] It was built shortly after the results of the Soviet T-3 tokamak led Princeton to convert its Model C stellarator into a tokamak.^[4]

The head of the Soviet tokamak program, Lev Artsimovich, pushed for an end to the Soviet stellarator program too. It went ahead anyway at the decision of Efim Slavsky, Soviet minister for the nuclear industry, in honour of the recently deceased physicist Igor Kurchatov. Kurchatov had directed the foundation of the stellarator center in Ukraine and had been a friend of Slavsky. Saturn-1 was the first torsatron in the world, and the first of a series of Kharkiv torsatrons, continued in independent Ukraine, that includes Uragan-2M.^[4]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Saturn-1 was a circular classical stellarator, with three pairs of helical electromagnetic coils to produce the stellarator magnetic field, and eight field periods around the torus. It could also be operated as a torsatron, i.e. without current in planar toroidal field coils, but with current in the helical coils all flowing in the same direction rather than counter-propagating.^[3]

Measurements of the magnetic field using an electron gun showed that the stellarator contained good magnetic flux surfaces, which was then an important open question in magnetic confinement fusion research. Soviet researchers had also calculated the expected surfaces, and the calculations agreed with their measurements.^[3]^[10] It was also among the first devices to observe that fast ions were lost disproportionately compared with thermal ions,^[3] a problem that remained open in stellarator design into the 2020s.^{[citation needed]}

Related experiments

CLASP, UK
Wendelstein II-B, West Germany

References

1 2 3 4 Vojcenja, V.S.; Georgievskij, A.V.; Ziser, V.E.; et al. (1971). "Experimental Research on Magnetic Surfaces and Plasma Confinement in the Saturn-1 Three-Turn Stellarator-Torsatron". IAEA International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, Madison.
1 2 Suprunenko, V.A. (1970). "The Saturn-1 plasma machine". Soviet Atomic Energy. 29: 1259. doi:10.1007/BF01166540.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Voitsenya, V.S.; Solodovchenko, S.I.; Georgiyevsky, A.V. (2005). 35 years since the start up and the first plasma of the stellarator-torsatron 'Saturn'. Main results for one decade of operation. IAEA Technical Meeting on Innovative Concepts and Theory of Stellarators. INIS 41133818.
1 2 3 Reinders, L.J. (2021). The Fairy Tale of Nuclear Fusion. Cham: Springer Nature. p. 89, 144–145, 352–354. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-64344-7. ISBN 9783030643430.
↑ Shafranov, V.D. (1980). "Stellarators". Nuclear Fusion. 20 (091075). doi:10.1088/0029-5515/20/9/005.
↑ Skobeltsyn, D.V. (1975). Stellarators. Translated by Parsons, D. Springer Nature. ISBN 9780306109089.
↑ Georgiyevskiy, A.V.; Solodovchenko, S.I.; Voitsenya, V.S. (13 February 2010). "Contributions of the Saturn to Modern Stellarator-Torsatron Research". Journal of Fusion Energy. 29 (399–406). doi:10.1007/s10894-010-9284-0.
↑ Dean, Stephen O. (4 January 2013). "Obituary of Vladimir Tolok (1926-2012)". Physics Today. American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/PT.4.1697. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
↑ Tolok, V.T. (2001). "A History of Stellarators in the Ukraine". Journal of Fusion Energy. 20 (117–129). doi:10.1023/A:1023431800945.
↑ Voitsenya, V.S.; Georgievskii, A.V.; Ziser, V.E.; et al. (1971). "Structure of the magnetic field in the trihelix Saturn-1 stellarator-torsatron machine". Atomnaya Energiya. 31 (1307–1309). doi:10.1007/BF01165611.

[iaea71-1] 1 2 3 4 Vojcenja, V.S.; Georgievskij, A.V.; Ziser, V.E.; et al. (1971). "Experimental Research on Magnetic Surfaces and Plasma Confinement in the Saturn-1 Three-Turn Stellarator-Torsatron". IAEA International Conference on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, Madison.

[ae70-2] 1 2 Suprunenko, V.A. (1970). "The Saturn-1 plasma machine". Soviet Atomic Energy. 29: 1259. doi:10.1007/BF01166540.

[iaea2005-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Voitsenya, V.S.; Solodovchenko, S.I.; Georgiyevsky, A.V. (2005). 35 years since the start up and the first plasma of the stellarator-torsatron 'Saturn'. Main results for one decade of operation. IAEA Technical Meeting on Innovative Concepts and Theory of Stellarators. INIS 41133818.

[reinders-4] 1 2 3 Reinders, L.J. (2021). The Fairy Tale of Nuclear Fusion. Cham: Springer Nature. p. 89, 144–145, 352–354. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-64344-7. ISBN 9783030643430.

[5] Shafranov, V.D. (1980). "Stellarators". Nuclear Fusion. 20 (091075). doi:10.1088/0029-5515/20/9/005.

[6] Skobeltsyn, D.V. (1975). Stellarators. Translated by Parsons, D. Springer Nature. ISBN 9780306109089.

[7] Georgiyevskiy, A.V.; Solodovchenko, S.I.; Voitsenya, V.S. (13 February 2010). "Contributions of the Saturn to Modern Stellarator-Torsatron Research". Journal of Fusion Energy. 29 (399–406). doi:10.1007/s10894-010-9284-0.

[8] Dean, Stephen O. (4 January 2013). "Obituary of Vladimir Tolok (1926-2012)". Physics Today. American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/PT.4.1697. Retrieved 22 September 2026.

[9] Tolok, V.T. (2001). "A History of Stellarators in the Ukraine". Journal of Fusion Energy. 20 (117–129). doi:10.1023/A:1023431800945.

[10] Voitsenya, V.S.; Georgievskii, A.V.; Ziser, V.E.; et al. (1971). "Structure of the magnetic field in the trihelix Saturn-1 stellarator-torsatron machine". Atomnaya Energiya. 31 (1307–1309). doi:10.1007/BF01165611.

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