By: Dr A K Sinha & his team CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CEERI) The Research: Manufacturing an Indian gyrotron for a future nuclear fusion plant. Gyrotron is a device used in nuclear fusion, a process that releases much more energy and is far cleaner than the currently used fission process A global effort is underway to produce electricity through nuclear fusion, in which nuclei of two small atoms are fused to release a massive amount of energy. It is a process similar to the release of energy in the sun. Our current nuclear power plants use the fission process, in which the nucleus of a large atom is broken to produce energy. A fusion reactor, though, is about 20-30 years away from reality. India is an important member of the global effort to build an International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France. If the global thermonuclear experiment succeeds, India can build fusion reactors around 2040. Fusion reactors would be more efficient and produce several times more energy than the current fission reactors with no radioactive hazardous effect as well. For nuclear fusion, India would need gyrotrons. Crucial devices in fusion reaction, gyrotrons produce very high-energy, high-frequency microwaves which are used for generating the plasma. Gyrotrons have been used in the past few decades for other industrial and scientific applications. However, India has never built gyrotrons. The country has only three gyrotrons — all have been imported and are being used at the Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar. In 2006, the Department of Science and Technology sanctioned a multi-institutional research project to develop the design and technology for an Indian gyrotron. The project was given to the CSIR-CEERI in collaboration with other institutes. The CSIR-CEERI is currently working on gyrotrons that can produce up to 1 MW power, something that has not been achieved till now, and frequency levels in terahertz (1012) region for various applications such as plasma research, fusion power, surveillance, quality growth and assurance of material, etc. under various government-funded projects. We had to start from the drawing board as countries that manufacture gyrotrons — the United States, Russia, Japan, European Union, etc — don’t disclose their designs or technology. We have some experience of having used imported gyrotons for high-temperature plasma generation research. The development of the gyrotron has been a process of discovery for all of us working on the project. It has not just led us to establish indigenous design and technology, we have also, in the process, been able to create a healthy pool of young scientists who can work on this cutting-edge technology. More than 100 research publications as well as eight PhD dissertations have come out of the project so far. The development of the first Indian gyrotron is now complete and it is ready to be tested. The testing will happen later this year at the Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar, which is a partner institute on this project. If you want your research to be considered for this column, please write to Amitabh Sinha at amitabh.sinha@expressindia.com
