Deuterium–tritium high confinement (H‐mode) studies in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor

High or enhanced confinement (H‐mode) plasmas have been obtained for the first time with nearly equal concentrations of deuterium and tritium in high‐temperature, high poloidal beta plasmas in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [McGuire, Phys. Plasmas 2, 2176 (1995)]. Tritium fueling was provided mainly through high‐power neutral beam injection (NBI) with powers up to 31 MW and beam energies of 90–110 keV. A transition to a circular limiter H‐mode configuration has been obtained, following a programmed rapid decrease of the plasma current. Isotope effects, due to the presence of tritium, led to different behavior for deuterium–deuterium (DD) and deuterium–tritium (DT) H‐modes relative to confinement, edge localized magnetohydrodynamic modes (ELMs), and ELM effects on fusion products. However, the threshold power for the H‐mode transition was the same in DD and DT. Some of the highest values of the global energy confinement time, τE, have been achieved on TFTR during the ELM‐free phase of DT H‐mode plasmas. Enhancements of τE greater than four times the L‐mode have been attained.