Deuterium-tritium operation of the tokamak fusion test reactor (TFTR)

Summary form only given. The TFTR has operated since 1982 with the objectives of studying the plasma physics of large tokamaks, gaining experience in the solution of engineering problems associated with large fusion systems, and demonstrating fusion energy production from the burning, on a pulsed basis, of deuterium and tritium in a magnetically confined toroidal plasma system. The first magnetic fusion experiments to study plasmas using nearly equal concentrations of deuterium and tritium were achieved by TFTR in late 1993 and have been routinely carried on since. The injection of ∼25 MW of tritium and ∼14 MW of deuterium neutral beams into a TFTR plasma has yielded over 10 MW of fusion power at a corresponding central fusion power density of ∼2 MW m/sup -3/. Safe, reliable operation of the TFTR systems in D-T has been demonstrated; D-T experiments on TFTR will continue over a broader range of parameters and higher power levels. This paper describes the experimental results of TFTR along with the technical systems and operating routines that provide the backbone of the TFTR experimental program. Discussed are the plasma confinement and heating systems along with the D-T hardware associated with tritium handling.