Plasma performance, boundary studies and first experiments with ICRH in TEXTOR

The TEXTOR plasma serves as a test bed for plasma/wall interaction studies and ICRH experiments. Reproducible and long-lasting discharges with soft termination were generated in the internal disruptive mode. The operational regime for Ohmic heating is shown in a 1/q versus n-barsub(e)R/Bsub(T) diagram. A comparison of electrical conductivity derived from current density measurements with calculated values favours neoclassical theory. A pump limiter installed on TEXTOR demonstrated a particle removal rate of 6x1020 particles per second out of the boundary layer. It could decrease the central electron density by 50%. The pump limiter was used to control fuelling and recycling characteristics of stable discharges. First experiments with additional ICRH showed a strong influence on the plasma boundary and scrape-off layer. The interaction of the radiofrequency with the boundary layer at present limits the power input to the plasma. Plasma boundary parameters have been measured by optical methods combined with neutral particle beams. (author)