Ciel, a new breath for Tore Supra

In view of preparing next generation of tokamaks, a new goal has been given to Tore Supra, initially designed for 30 second operation. In order to fulfill this target, with the ultimate aim of injecting in the plasma 25 MW for 1000 s shots: all existing components (including the 6 ergodic divertor modules) present inside the inner vessel of Tore Supra will be removed by the end of 1999, they will be replaced in 2000 by a set of up to date technology components, designed to withstand an overall power of 25 MW for shots up to 1000 s constituting the so-called 'CIEL' project (French acronym for 'Composants Internes Et Limiteur'). It is planned to stop present Tore Supra's operation in autumn 1999, and start again with CIEL environment at the end of 2000. Full capacity (pumping and cooling) will be available in 2002. (author)