1997 Progress report

1997 was another year of intense activity for the ENEA Nuclear Fusion Division in the evolving scenario of fusion research. With respect to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a major review process has started, originate by the wide perception that the difficult financial situation affecting some of the parties would make it very difficult, practically impossible, to secure funding for the project as it stands. To scale down the size and cost of the machine by reducing the technical objectives, while keeping to the programmatic goal of constructing a demonstration reactor (DEMO) as the following step, appears achievable. Progress in physics was substantial during 1997. Analysis of the huge existing database, complemented by the latest results, had led to a better, more accurate scaling for the confinement time on which to base extrapolation to ITER. Studies of the very promising advanced regimes have been pursued on many tokamaks. The Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) is well placed in this respect since it is equipped with the right tools, lower hybrid and electron cyclotron radiofrequency heating and current drive systems, to explore the new promised land of low transport from the plasma core. The main highlights of FTU operation in 1997 were related to providing information relevant to these future developments. Transient production of low transport regimes with electron temperatures of 8-9 keV at the plasma center was obtained by taking advantage of the plasma skin effect and precise electron cyclotron power deposition. High-efficiency current drive at high density using lower hybrid waves was demonstrated. High-confinement pellet-enhanced modes of operation and good ion Bernstein wave coupling through the waveguide-type coupler were also achieved. Concerning the IGNITOR experiment, funds were made available only for continuation of the engineering design activities, and nothing has been released so far for manufacturing the additional components