Recent Radio Frequency Experiments in TFTR

Conference ·

OSTI ID:16445

Recent experiments and theory have fueled renewed interest in ion-Bernstein waves (IBW) in tokamaks. A direct launch IBW antenna was used for the first time on the Tokamak Fusion TEst Reactor (TFTR), and deuterium-tritium mode conversion of fast waves to IBW has been demonstrated for the first time on TFTR. An estimated 20-40% of the launched radio-frequency power was coupled to the core of the plasma during the direct launch IBW coupling experiments. The initial demonstration of D-T MCCD (deuterium-tritium mode conversion current drive) in 1996 suffered from significant damping from lithium-7 minority heating. In 1997, lithium-6 was used to condition the walls of TFTR to avoid the presence of lithium-7, and efficient heating was observed. In addition, fast-wave experiments were performed to test the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) start-up plasma scenario, and direct electron heating was tested for application in reversed shear plasmas.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 16445
• Report Number(s): Cfp-3713; CONF-9704102--; ON: DE98051289
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES