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(OV4/2) Overview of the Initial NSTX Experimental Results

M. Ono¹⁾, M. Bell¹⁾, R. Bell¹⁾, T. Bigelow²⁾, M. Bitter¹⁾, W. Blanchard¹⁾, D. Darrow¹⁾, E. Fredrickson¹⁾, D. Gates¹⁾, L. R. Grisham¹⁾, J. C. Hosea¹⁾, S. Kaye¹⁾, R. Kaita¹⁾, S. Kubota⁹⁾, H. Kugel¹⁾, D. Johnson¹⁾, B. LeBlanc¹⁾, R. Maingi²⁾, R. Maqueda⁵⁾, E. Mazzucato¹⁾, J. Menard¹⁾, D. Mueller¹⁾, B. A. Nelson⁴⁾, C. Neumeyer¹⁾, F. Paoletti³⁾, S. Paul¹⁾, Y.-K. M. Peng²⁾, S. Ramakrishnan¹⁾, R. Raman⁴⁾, P. Ryan²⁾, S. A. Sabbagh³⁾, C. Skinner¹⁾, T. Stevenson¹⁾, D. Stutman⁷⁾, E. Synakowski¹⁾, D. Swain²⁾, G. Taylor¹⁾, A. Von Halle¹⁾, J. Wilgen²⁾, M. Williams¹⁾, J. R. Wilson¹⁾, R. Ackers¹⁹⁾, R. E. Barry²⁾, A. Bers¹²⁾, J. Bialek³⁾, P. T. Bonoli¹²⁾, M. D. Carter²⁾, J. Chrzanowski¹⁾, W. Davis¹⁾, E. J. Doyle⁹⁾, L. Dudek¹⁾, R. Ellis¹⁾, P. Efthimion¹⁾, J. R. Ferron⁶⁾, E. Fredd¹⁾, M. Finkenthal⁷⁾, T. Gibney¹⁾, R. Goldston¹⁾, R. Hatcher¹⁾, R. Hawryluck¹⁾, H. Hayashiya¹⁴⁾, K. Hill¹⁾, T. R. Jarboe⁴⁾, S. C. Jardin¹⁾, H. Ji¹⁾, M. Kalish¹⁾, L. L. Lao⁶⁾, K. C. Lee¹¹⁾, F. Levinton¹⁴⁾, N. C. Luhmann¹¹⁾, P. Lamarche¹⁾, B. Mccormack¹⁾, R. Majeski¹⁾, J. Manickam¹⁾, R. Marsala¹⁾, T. K. Mau¹⁰⁾, S. Medley¹⁾, M. M. Menon²⁾, O. Mitarai¹⁷⁾, M. Nagata¹⁸⁾, N. Nishino¹⁶⁾, G. Oliaro¹⁾, H. Park¹⁾, R. Parsells¹⁾, T. Peebles⁹⁾, G. Pearson¹⁾, C. K. Phillips¹⁾, R. I. Pinsker⁶⁾, G. D. Porter¹³⁾, A. K. Ram¹²⁾, J. Robinson¹⁾, P. Roney¹⁾, L. Roquemore¹⁾, A. Rosenberg¹⁾, M. Schaffer⁶⁾, S. Shiraiwa¹⁵⁾, P. Sichta¹⁾, B. Stratton¹⁾, D. Stotler¹⁾, Y. Takase¹⁵⁾, W. R. Wampler⁸⁾, G. Wurden⁵⁾, J. G. Yang²⁰⁾, X. Q. Xu¹³⁾, L. Zeng⁹⁾, W. Zhu³⁾, S. Zweben^1)
 
1) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, USA
²⁾ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA,
³⁾ Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
⁴⁾ University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
⁵⁾ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
⁶⁾ General Atomics, San Diego, CA, USA
⁷⁾ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
⁸⁾ Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA
⁹⁾ UC Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
¹⁰⁾ UC San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
¹¹⁾ UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA
¹²⁾ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
¹³⁾ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
¹⁴⁾ Fusion Physics, and Technology, San Diego, CA, USA
¹⁵⁾ Univ. Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
¹⁶⁾ Hiroshima Univ., Hiroshima, Japan
¹⁷⁾ Kyushu Tokai Univ., Kumamoto, Japan
¹⁸⁾ Himeji Inst. Technology, Okayama, Japan
¹⁹⁾ EURATOM/UKAEA. Culham, UK
²⁰⁾ Korea Basic Science Institute, Taejeon, Korea

Abstract.  The main aim of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) is to establish the fusion physics principles of the spherical torus (ST) concept. The NSTX device began plasma operations in February 1999 and the plasma current I_p was successfully brought up to the design value of 1 million amperes on December 14, 1999. The planned plasma shaping parameters, $\kappa$ = 1.6 - 2.2 and $\delta$ = 0.2 - 0.4, were achieved in inner limited, single null and double null configurations. The CHI (Coaxial Helicity Injection) and HHFW (High Harmonic Fast Wave) experiments were also initiated. A CHI injected current of 27 kA produced up to 260 kA of toroidal current without using an ohmic solenoid. With an injection of 2.3 MW of HHFW power, using twelve antennas connected to six transmitters, electrons were heated from a central temperature of 400 eV to 900 eV at a central density of 3.5×10¹³cm^{- 3} increasing the plasma energy to 59 kJ and the toroidal beta, $\beta_{\mathrm{T}}^{}$ to 10 %. Finally, the NBI system commenced operation in Sept. 2000. The initial results with two ion sources ( P_NBI = 2.8MW) shows good heating, producing a total plasma stored energy of 90 kJ corresponding to $\beta_{\mathrm{T}}^{}$ $\approx$ 18% at a plasma current of 1.1 MA.

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