Review on the Progress of the LHD Experiment

Recent progress in the Large Helical Device (LHD) experiment during the last 2 yr is reviewed. The LHD has been extending its operational regime toward fusion-relevant conditions while taking advantage of the net-current-free heliotron concept employing a superconducting coil system. Heating capability has exceeded 10 MW, and the central ion and electron temperatures have reached 7 and 10 keV, respectively. The maximum values of beta and pulse length have been extended to 3.2% and 150 s, respectively. Several encouraging physics observations have been obtained, i.e., simultaneous achievement of the mitigation of the magnetohydrodynamic instability criteria and good confinement, and formation of an internal transport barrier. The initial results have been obtained using a local island divertor, which shows the possibility of particle control at the plasma edge.