Status of Wendelstein 7-X construction

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is a fully optimised low-shear stellarator and shall demonstrate the reactor potential of a HELIAS-type fusion device. It is presently under construction at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plasmaphysics (IPP), Greifswald site. The superconducting magnet system enables continuous operation, limited only by the plasma exhaust cooling water system whose capacity is designed for 30 min full power operation. Companies spread all over Europe participate in the manufacture of this large and complex machine. Whereas most of the component production progresses well, the coil delivery has been hampered over the years by a variety of problems. Another cause of concern was the mechanical structure which - with the progressing of in-depth analyses - turned out to be increasingly complex. As of now the situation has widely stabilized, and component manufacture and assembly is making reasonable progress. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.