The collaborative tokamak control room

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design 2006-07, Vol.81 (15), p.2031-2037
• Main Author: Schissel, D.P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Controled nuclear fusion plants; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Grid computing; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; National Fusion Collaboratory; Remote participation; Shared large display; Tokamak control room
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2006.04.053

Magnetic fusion experiments keep growing in size and complexity resulting in a concurrent growth in collaborations between experimental sites and laboratories worldwide. In the US, the National Fusion Collaboratory Project is developing a persistent infrastructure to enable scientific collaboration for all aspects of magnetic fusion energy research by creating a robust, user-friendly collaborative environment and deploying this to the more than 1000 US fusion scientists in 40 institutions who perform magnetic fusion research. This paper reports on one aspect of the project which is the development of the collaborative tokamak control room to enhance both collocated and remote scientific participation in experimental operations. This work includes secured computational services that can be scheduled as required, the ability to rapidly compare experimental data with simulation results, a means to easily share individual results with the group by moving application windows to a shared display, and the ability for remote scientists to be fully engaged in experimental operations through shared audio, video, and applications. The project is funded by the USDOE Office of Science, Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) Program and unites fusion and computer science researchers to directly address these challenges.