In front of EAST tokamak stood an old man, grey-haired, tears welling in eyes, not a word, only looking at the machine, up and down, left and right, again and again. He is nobody but Prof Denis Ivanov, who revisits ASIPP since 2000. When seeing HT-7, still capable of stable operation, this old professor couldn't restrain from his excitement.

It is at the invitation of the Tokamak Design Division that Prof. Denis Ivanov, Chief Scientist of Nuclear Fusion Institute of Russian Kurchatov Institute, began his visit to ASIPP on May 16. As soon as Prof Ivanov arrived in Hefei, regardless of tiredness, he insisted on having a look at EAST and HT-7 tokamaks first instead of going to the hotel. Accompanying Prof Ivanov’s tour is Dr Yuntao Song, who is deeply touched by his relentless enthusiasm and love for fusion and for tokamaks. Although 80 years old, Denis Ivanov has not retired yet, still pursues his fusion research.

During his eleven-day visit, Prof. Ivanov discussed with the young engineers and researchers of feeder team about the high voltage paschen tight insulation and HTS technology of ITER feeder system. Meanwhile he gave suggestions and comments on the feeder design.

Director Prof Jiangang Li and Prof Yuanxi Wan warmly welcomed Prof Ivanov, and thanked him again for his strong support in early 90s, saying ASIPP will never forget their old friends, their kind and unselfish help and friendship. 

Returning to ASIPP with familiar facilities and old faces, Prof. Ivanov said he always cherished the memory of struggling to commission HT-7 tokamak in his mind. Before leaving, Prof. Ivanov wished ASIPP a better future.

About Prof. Denis Ivanov:

Prof. Denis Ivanov has made very important contribution to plasma physics, superconducting magnets and superconducting technology applications. He has participated in the construction of T3, T7, T10, T15 devices. He serves as technical consultant of South Korean Tokamak machine, KSTAR, and technical adviser of India superconducting Tokamak machine, SST-1.