As the finalization of the hydrogen experiment towards the deuterium phase, the exploration of the best performance of the hydrogen plasma was intensively performed in the Large Helical Device (LHD). High ion and electron temperatures, Ti, Te, of more than 6 keV were simultaneously achieved by superimposing the high power electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) on the neutral beam injection (NBI) heated plasma. Although flattening of the ion temperature profile in the core region was observed during the discharges, one could avoid the degradation by increasing the electron density. Another key parameter to present plasma performance is an averaged beta value . The high regime around 4 % was extended to an order of magnitude lower than the earlier collisional regime. Impurity behaviour in hydrogen discharges with NBI heating was also classified with the wide range of edge plasma parameters. Existence of no impurity accumulation regime where the high performance plasma is maintained with high power heating > 10 MW was identified. Wide parameter scan experiments suggest that the toroidal rotation and the turbulence are the candidates for expelling impurities from the core region.

Remarkable progress in the physical parameters of net-current free plasmas has been made in the Large Helical Device (LHD) since the last Fusion Energy Conference in Chengdu, 2006 (O.Motojima et al., Nucl. Fusion 47 (2007. The beta value reached 5 % and a high beta state beyond 4.5% from the diamagnetic measurement has been maintained for longer than 100 times the energy confinement time. The density and temperature regimes also have been extended. The central density has exceeded 1.0×10 21 m -3 due to the formation of an Internal Diffusion Barrier (IDB). The ion temperature has reached 6.8 keV at the density of 2×10 19 m -3 , which is associated with the suppression of ion heat conduction loss. Although these parameters have been obtained in separated discharges, each fusion-reactor relevant parameter has elucidated the potential of net-current free heliotron plasmas. Diversified studies in recent LHD experiments are reviewed in this paper.

A superconducting rotating gantry for heavy-ion therapy is being designed. This isocentric rotating gantry can transport heavy ions with the maximum energy of 430 MeV=u to an isocenter with irradiation angles of over 0-360 degrees, and is further capable of performing three-dimensional raster-scanning irradiation. The combined-function superconducting magnets will be employed for the rotating gantry. The superconducting magnets with optimized beam optics allow a compact gantry design with a large scan size at the isocenter; the length and the radius of the gantry will be approximately 13 and 5.5 m, respectively, which are comparable to those for the existing proton gantries. Furthermore, the maximum scan size at the isocenter is calculated to be as large as approximately 200 mm square for heavy-ion beams at the maximum energy of 430 MeV=u. Based on the design of the beam optics, specifications of the superconducting magnets were determined. The superconducting magnets and magnetic-field distributions are designed using a three-dimensional field solver. With the calculated magnetic fields, beam-tracking simulations were performed to verify the design of the superconducting magnets, and concurrently to evaluate the field quality. With calculated beam profiles at the isocenter, we found that the positions of beam spots as well as their size and shape could be well reproduced as designed, proving validity of our design.

Heliotron reactors have attractive features for fusion power plants, such as no need for current drive and a wide space between the helical coils for the maintenance of in-vessel components. Their main disadvantage was considered the necessarily large size of their magnet systems. According to the recent reactor studies based on the experimental results in the Large Helical Device, the major radius of plasma of 14 to 17 m with a central toroidal field of 6 to 4 T is needed to attain the self-ignition condition with a blanket space thicker than 1.1 m. The stored magnetic energy is estimated at 120 to 140 GJ. Although both the major radius and the magnetic energy are about three times as large as ITER, the maximum magnetic field and mechanical stress can be comparable. In the preliminary structural analysis, the maximum stress intensity including the peak stress is less than 1,000 MPa that is allowed for strengthened stainless steel. Although the length of the helical coil is longer than 150 m that is about five times as long as the ITER TF coil, cable-in-conduit conductors can be adopted with a parallel winding method of five-in-hand. The concept of the parallel winding is proposed. Consequently, the magnet systems for helical reactors can be realized with small extension of the ITER technology.

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The progress of physical understanding as well as parameter improvement of net-current-free helical plasma is reported for the Large Helical Device since the last Fusion Energy Conference in Daejeon in 2010. The second low-energy neutral beam line was installed, and the central ion temperature has exceeded 7 keV, which was obtained by carbon pellet injection. Transport analysis of the high-Ti plasmas shows that the ion-thermal conductivity and viscosity decreased after the pellet injection although the improvement does not last long. The effort has been focused on the optimization of plasma edge conditions to extend the operation regime towards higher ion temperature and more stable high density and high beta. For this purpose a portion of the open helical divertors are being modified to the baffle-structured closed ones aimed at active control of the edge plasma. It is compared with the open case that the neutral pressure in the closed helical divertor increased by ten times as predicted by modelling. Studies of physics in a three-dimensional geometry are highlighted in the topics related to the response to a resonant magnetic perturbation at the plasma periphery such as edge-localized-mode mitigation and divertor detachment. Novel approaches of non-local and non-diffusive transport have also been advanced.

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