Making of the NSTX Facility
Ono, M., Kaye, S.M., Neumeyer, C., Peng, Y-K.M., Williams, M., Barnes, G., Bell, M., Bialek, J., Bigelow, T., Blanchard, W., et al
Date of PPPL Report: November 1999
Presented at: The 18th IEEE/NPSS (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Nuclear and Plasma Science Society) Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE) which was held in Albuquerque, NM,on October 25-29, 1999.
The NSTX (National Spherical Torus Experiment) facility located at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is the newest national fusion science experimental facility for the restructured US Fusion Energy Science Program. The NSTX project was approved in FY 97 as the first proof-of-principle national fusion facility dedicated to the spherical torus research. On Feb. 15, 1999, fhe first plasma was achieved 10 weeks ahead of schedule. The project was completed on budget and with an outstanding safety record. This paper gives an overview of the NSTX facility construction and the initial plasma operations.