The physics of an ignited tokamak

There appears to be a consensus that time has come to embark on the design and construction of the next generation of tokamaks which is at the origin of the ITER initiative. Different proposals have been made based on different appreciation as to the size of the step which can be taken, related to considerations of cost, risk and duration of construction. A class of devices which may be considered the last the very high-field, high density ALCATOR-Frascati line of tokamaks have been proposed for some years specifically for this purpose. Today there remain three such projects: Ignitor, Ignitex and CIT. The technology chosen limits the pulse length to a few seconds. These devices have evolved through the years becoming larger and much more expensive than originally anticipated, increasing the pressure to do more than just a simple demonstration of ignition. There is another class of more ambitious devices which aim at creating long burning plasmas in conditions as close as possible to those of a tokamak reactor in order to address all the plasma physics problems associated with long burn. Three such projects, NET, the european next step after JET, ITER and JIT are good examples of this approach. The ideal would be to design a device with sufficient margin to study burning plasmas over a wide range of parameters. The object of this didactic presentation is to describe the common physics basis of all these projects, compare their expected performance using present knowledge and list the physics problems associated with a burning plasma experiment. The comparison is not meant to be a judgement since the important parameter is the cost/benefit ratio which is a matter of appreciation at this stage. 6 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab