MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. The mega-unit tokamak T-15MD, launched at the national research center Kurchatov Institute on Tuesday, is unparalleled in the world in terms of its technical parameters, the institute's press service said.

"Tokamak T-15MD is the first thermonuclear plant built in Russia over the past 20 years. In terms of technical parameters it is unrivaled in the world. The combination of great capacity and small size makes it unique. It became possible thanks to a number of new technologies developed by the Kurchatov Institute," the news release runs.

The mega-unit was created within the framework of the government program entitled The Development of the Atomic Energy Industrial Complex. Its development was a necessary step forward in developing the national school of thermonuclear research, enhancing Russia's international competitiveness in this field and the implementing the national thermonuclear fusion program, the Kurchatov institute said.

Tokamak T-15MD is affiliated with the international thermonuclear project ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). Hopefully the ITER reactor will go operational by 2035. T-15MD will be one of the units where a number of research tasks will be addressed.