25 July 2023:  H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the Opening of the Tokamak Operations Building, during which she pressed the button to release plasma from the Tokamak machine for the first time in Thailand and in ASEAN, and observed the research and development activities in fusion technology of the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology. (Public Organization) (TINT) at the TINT Head Office, Ongkharak District, Nakhon Nayok Province.  Mr. Bancha Chaowarin, Governor of Nakhon Nayok Province, Mr. Jutha Thiangtham, Chief Justice of the Court, Nakhon Nayok Province, Major General Phairat Kaewsri, Commander of the 12th Military District, Police Major General Phu Nai Singhasut, Provincial Police Commander of Nakhon Nayok Province, H.E. Mr. Han Zhiqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Thailand,  Prof. Dr. Pairash Thajchayapong, Member of the Executive Board and Secretary-General of the Information Technology Foundation under the Initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Prof. Dr. Sirirurk Songsivilai, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Dr. Thaweesak Koanantakool, Chairman of the National Institute of Nuclear Technology, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thawatchai Onchan, Executive Director of TINT, and senior executives from the Chinese Academy of Sciences attended to welcome Her Royal Highness.

     This Tokamak Operations Building is a building to support the installation of Thailand Tokamak-1 or TT-1 machine which TINT received budget support from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) To develop the Thai Tokamak and its support system from the main parts of the HT-6M Tokamak machine which was donated from the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP).  In addition, TINT received support from the Thai government in the amount of approximately 100 million baht, comprising the budget of 54 million baht to develop the engineering system and innovation for the Tokamak, and the budget of 46 million baht to construct the Tokamak Operations Building, which is a 2-story reinforced concrete building divided into offices and operations.  The operation part has a total usable area of approximately 670 square meters, consisting of space for installing the Tokamak and space for the Tokamak support system.

      For the Thailand Tokamak-1 machine installed in this building, after receiving key parts from ASIPP according to a cooperation agreement signed in August 2017, they will be used to research the use of nuclear fusion reaction simulations to produce high temperature plasma, using the process that simulates the nuclear fusion reactions that occur naturally on the sun on earth. Before delivering the machine, 9 Thai scientists and engineers were trained for more than 3 months at ASIPP to learn the theory and how to use the machine thoughroughly.  The Tokamak donated by ASIPP, consisting of 462 main parts, weighing more than 84 tons, was sent to Thailand to be installed in the Tokamak operating building at TINT head office in Ongkharak District, Nakhon Nayok Province.

      The installation of Thailand’s first Tokamak went according to plan, with help from experts and engineers from ASIPP, along with teams of engineers from the engineering and advanced nuclear technology center of TINT and team of engineers from EGAT.  The team worked together to assemble the main parts of the machine, after which they worked on the power supply system.  Both parts of the operation were completed in February 2023. It is expected that the temperature of the plasma in the first phase will be approximately 100,000 degrees Celsius and the institute plans to develop a system to supplement the plasma heating by means of electromagnetic wave heating to raise the temperature of the plasma to 1,000,000 degrees Celsius and within 10 years they will design and build a new tokamak machine themselves.  they will use superconducting magnets technology to create stronger magnetic fields for plasma confinement and additional heating by various methods which is expected to be able to create plasma with temperatures as high as 10,000,000 degrees Celsius.

     TINT will also study and research on nuclear fusion reactions to be used as clean energy to produce electricity in the future and on the use of plasma in industry, agriculture, and medicine.  All in all, the development of this Tokamak machine will help Thailand to enhance  knowledge and able to support the engineering work of Thailand’s railway system in the future.