The implementation of magnetics verification in EAST plasma control system

Experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) is an experimental device aiming at steady state plasma operation for fusion research. The values of many discharge parameters, such as plasma shape, position and current must be directly acquired or indirectly evaluated from the magnetic measurements, so the accuracy of magnetic measurements plays an important role in reliable plasma control performance. A method for verifying the key magnetic measurements in real time for each shot is described in this paper. Such magnetics verification will prevent the discharge from a key magnetic signal failure and ensure the quality of a successful discharge. The diagnostics verification algorithm has been implemented in the plasma control system for the EAST. The implementation details and its application in the recent experiment are presented in this paper. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.