MOSCOW, May 18. /TASS/. The launch of the T-15MD tokamak at the Kurchatov Institute on Tuesday is evidence of the high level of Russia’s technological development, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a meeting with scientists during his visit to the Institute.

"Today we have become participants in a landmark and major event in the world of science. We have launched a large-scale project, Tokamak T-15MD. This is an indicator of our country’s high technological level," the prime minister stressed.

Russia has always held and continues holding leading positions in this field, Mishustin said, adding that major nuclear physics scientists had launched joint work about 80 years ago.

"Thanks to this intellectual power laid down at that time, our country was the first in the world to build a nuclear power plant and is still the sole state that operates a nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet," Mishustin said.

The event was timed for the current Year of Science and Technologies.

Tokamak installation

The tokamak stands for "a toroidal chamber with magnetic coils." The abbreviation has eventually become an international term.

The T-15 tokamak installation is designed to produce and study plasma with thermonuclear parameters and solve some engineering tasks directly associated with the thermonuclear reactor’s creation.

Tokamak T-15MD is a modified version of the T-15 reactor that had been in operation at the Kurchatov Institute since the late 1980s. This is the first new thermonuclear installation built in Russia in the past 20 years. By its technical parameters, it has no rivals in the world. As its unique feature, it combines high power with a compact size.

Kurchatov Institute

The Kurchatov Institute National Research Center is one of the leading research facilities in Russia and in the world. With its creation, Russia has set up a unique inter-disciplinary scientific and technical compound that comprises the Kurchatov specialized synchrotron radiation source (KISI-Kurchatov), the U-70 accelerator, the IR-8 and VVR-M neutron research reactors, the PIK high-flux research reactor, the T-10 and T-15 tokamak thermonuclear installations, plasma and other units.