High poloidal beta experiments in tokamaks

Recently, a high poloidal beta plasma in tokamaks increasingly attracts much interest as it may offer an alternative way for the development of a steady state fusion reactor. This article represents an overview of high poloidal beta experiments which have been carried out in small to large tokamaks for about a past decade. A particular attention is paid here to historic relations between the research developments as following the recent remarkable progress in the high poloidal beta plasma research. Lastly, the prospects of the high poloidal beta plasma are discussed in association with the reactor scenarios including its impacts on the future tokamak devices. (author) 69 refs