Introduction of large amounts of neon into Ohmically heated deuterium discharges in the PLT tokamakl results in higher central electron temperature (Te(0) ≅ 3 keV) and values of electron energy containment time that are larger than in regular discharges at the same electron density (τEe = 44 ms at n̄e = 2 × 1019 m−3). For steady-state discharges with high effective Z (∼ 5–8) the conductance is larger than that predicted by neoclassical theory by as much as a factor of two. Transport rates of hydrogen-like and helium-like ions can be fairly well approximated by assuming a diffusion constant of between 0.4 and 1 m2·s−1. Within experimental uncertainties the diffusion of hydrogen-like neon is the same for co- and counter-directed high-power neutral beams.