Physics and engineering design studies on the Large Helical Device

Abstract The construction of the Large Helical Device (LHD) is progressing as a seven year project in Japan, which began in 1990. This year, necessary research and development programs are nearly reaching the final goal of the original schedule and we have started the construction of the basic parts of LHD. We report on the results of the physics and engineering design studies, and the recent status of the construction of LHD.