Newsgroups: sci.physics.plasma
From IRBY@CMOD2.PFC.MIT.EDU Tue Apr 16 16:59:31 1996
From: IRBY@CMOD2.PFC.MIT.EDU
Organization: MIT
Subject:  Alcator C-MOD Weekly Highlights

            Alcator C-MOD Weekly Highlights
                  April 16, 1996

      Invessel cleanup is now complete.  The wipes from the first
wall are now being processed in an ultrasonic bath and the residue
will be analyzed for the ITER dust initiative.  Work has begun on
installation of a new camera fixture which mounts on the inner wall
of the vessel.  This fixture will allow 35mm photographs to be made
of the entire outer wall and upper and lower divertor in a precise and
reproducible manner.  The fixture consists of a circular track surrounding
the inner wall on which mounts for supporting the cameras and light
sources travel.
      Work continues on our new RF transmitters.  All conduit
runs for utility power, control, and diagnostics are now complete.  The
480 VAC power to the cooling system pumps is now installed.  All PLC
interface cables linking the driver to the control cabinet are fabricated.
      The west side of the diagnostics stand is complete.  We are now
preparing to move some of the control and diagnostic racks that are
presently very close to the machine out to the extension.  This change will
provide more room for hardware that must be located near the machine, such
as feeds for the new RF antenna.  The east side of the stand extension will
be finished as soon as relocation of the diborane vent line is complete.
      The alternator has been officially certified for three more years
of operation by GE, and reassembly has already begun.  Modifications to
the flywheel bearings are well underway.  These changes will improve oil
flow around the bearings and help damp oscillations.
      New analysis of C-MOD disruption data indicates a possible
correlation between halo current magnitude and the location of the plasma
strike point following a VDE, for a given plasma current. Plasmas which
end up limiting primarily on the top of the outboard divertor module exhibit
higher ratios of I_Halo/I_p, compared to cases in which the plasma contacts
both inboard and outboard divertors. Including a measure of the
relative plasma proximity to the inner and outer structures as a scaling
parameter may reduce the scatter in our data, and improve our ability to
predict halo currents
            Rostom Dagazian, our new contract monitor, visited last week to
discuss various aspects of the C-MOD program.  Rajesh Maingi from DIII-D
also visited last week and gave a seminar on recent DIII-D divertor
results.  Martin Greenwald was at the University of Wisconsin last week
and gave two seminars, one on C-MOD transport and another on density limits.

Papers recently accepted for publication:

X-ray Observations of 2l - nl' Transitions from Zr, Nb, Mo and Pd in Near
Neonlike Charge States, by J. E. Rice, K. B. Fournier, J. L. Terry,
M. A. Graf, M. Finkenthal, E. S. Marmar and W. H. Goldstein
to appear in Phys Rev A

X-ray and VUV Observations of Mo23+ - Mo33+ Brightness Profiles from
Alcator C-Mod Plasmas, by J. E. Rice, J. L. Terry, K. B. Fournier,
M. A. Graf, M. Finkenthal, M. J. May, E. S. Marmar, W. H. Goldstein
and A. E. Hubbard
to appear in J. Phys. B