Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory annual report, October 1, 1982-September 30, 1983

Abstract

The Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) achieved first plasma at 3:05 a.m. on December 24, 1982. During the course of the year, the plasma current was raised to a maximum of 1 MA, and extensive confinement studies were carried out with ohmic-heated plasmas. The most important finding was that tokamak energy confinement time increases as the cube of the plasma size. The Princeton Large Torus (PLT) carried out a number of high-powered plasma-heating experiments in the ion cyclotron frequency range, and also demonstrated for the first time that a 100-kA tokamak discharge can be built up by means of rf-waves in the lower hybrid range, without any need for inductive current drive by the conventional tokamak transformer system. The Poloidal Divertor Experiment (PDX) demonstrated that substantial improvements in plasma confinement during intense neutral-beam heating can be obtained by means of either a magnetic divertor or a mechanical scoop limiter. The S-1 spheromak experiment has come into operation, with first plasma in January 1983, and machine completion in August. The soft X-ray laser development experiment continues to make strong progress towards the demonstration of laser amplification. Thus far, a single-pass gain of 3.5 has been achieved, using the 182 A line of CVI. Theoretical MHD-stability studies have shed new light on the nature of the energetic-ion-driven ''fishbone instability,'' and the utilization of the bean-shaping technique to reach higher beta values in the tokamak.