Published July 8, 1991 | Version v1
Journal article

Confinement degradation and enhanced microturbulence as long-time precursors to high-density-limit tokamak disruptions

  • 1. Fusion Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
  • 2. Department of Electrical Engineering and Institute of Plasma and Fusion Research, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024 (USA)

Description

Long-time precursors of order 5 times the global energy confinement time are observed for disrupting plasmas at the high-density limit on the Texas Experimental Tokamak. These precursors, occurring well in advance of any change in the plasma MHD activity, are reflected in the electron particle and heat transport along with the density fluctuation level. Enhanced microturbulence is proposed as the physical mechanism for the confinement degradation and subsequent disruption

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review Letters
Journal Volume
67
Journal Issue
2
Series
Phys. Rev. Lett.
Journal Page Range
200-203
ISSN
0031-9007
CODEN
PRLTA