AC plasma current operation in the JET tokamak

A full cycle of AC tokamak operation, at a plasma current of ±2 MA, has been demonstrated in JET. The plasma purity in the two half-cycles was equal, with an effective ion charge of two at an average density of 1.2 × 1019 m-3. Dwell times between the two plasmas of between 50 ms and 6 s were obtained. The range of pre-fill pressure for successful breakdown of the second plasma was between 1.5 and 6.0 mPa, comparable to that in normal JET breakdown. Within the range, the second breakdown was not significantly affected by gas release from the vessel walls