For three months I have worked at the Institute for Plasma Physics in Prague as part of my internship. During this time I’ve worked on a new diagnostic for detection of runaway electrons in COMPASS tokamak, vertical-ECE. I’ve verified the applicability for direct detection of low energy (< 1 MeV) runaway electrons, mainly during the phase where many runaway electrons are first generated. This can potentially contribute to early mitigation and control of the runaway electron beam. This was just the first part of my internship.

The second part consisted of a more in depth analysis of the vertical-ECE setup. From this I concluded that currently the added value of vertical-ECE lies in the overall detection of runaway electrons, and not in the different channels, which represented different detected frequencies. Vertical-ECE is still a promising detection technique and further work will be done on this.

Working on my own research subject was not the only thing that taught me a lot. Also the experimental campaigns performed at the COMPASS tokamak at the IPP during my stay there showed me how doing experimental work in fusion works. Being present during these experimental campaigns showed me a more practical aspect of doing fusion research and what comes into play when one wants to do an experiment on a real fusion device.

During my stay in Prague I lived in a student dormitory of the Czech Technical University in Prague together. Mainly during the weekends I explored many places in Prague from the old city centre and the Prague castle to the large park in Holešovice or Vyšehrad Fortress. Exploring Prague made me realize that it is a very modern and living city with some beautiful historic aspects. I would like to thank EUROfusion and Fusenet for the financial support which gave me the opportunity to do this internship.

- Sander Heester