First year of TFTR operation

The ''Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor'' was formally commissioned on December 24, 1982, when the construction phase of the project was completed and the first plasma discharge was initiated. Since that time the capability of the facility has been extended to the point where Ohmically heated discharges of 1.4MAmp with current flat top times of over one second are routinely achieved. Typical parameters for these discharges are: Electron temperature≅2keV, ion temperature ≅1.5keV, Electron density (line average) 2-3 x 10/sup 13/ cm-3 and Zeff varying from 1 to 4. The energy confinement time scales linearly with density and exhibits a size cubed (neo-Alcator) scaling: values approaching 0.3 seconds have been measured. Major radius compression experiments have been carried out with 550 K Amp discharges being compressed by a major radius ratio of 1.4 to 750 KAmps. Plans for the next phase of operation are described including the installation of the neutral beam auxilliary heating system as well as the extension of the operating parameter regime to full design levels