Construction and initial operation of the Advanced Toroidal Facility

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) torsatron was designed on a physics basis for access to the second stability regime and on an engineering basis for independent fabrication of high-accuracy components. The actual construction, assembly, and initial operation of ATF are compared with the characteristics expected during the design of ATF. 31 refs., 19 figs., 2 tabs.