Newsgroups: sci.physics.plasma
From IRBY@CMOD2.PFC.MIT.EDU Tue Jul 23 19:39:42 1996
From: IRBY@CMOD2.PFC.MIT.EDU
Organization: MIT
Subject: Alcator C-MOD Weekly Highlights

Alcator C-MOD Weekly Highlights
July 23, 1996

C-Mod is now undergoing a bake cycle which will last another
one to two days. Following the bake, several more days of electron
cyclotron discharge cleaning will be required to prepare the vessel for
operation. The ECDC system has already been checked out and is operational.
Other engineering systems such as the magnet coax instrumentation,
boronization, and power supply PLC control stations, are coming back on line.
Diagnostic systems such as the two color interferometer, the ECE system,
and the McPherson spectrometer are also being prepared for operation.
The alternator was brought up to nearly full speed this week.
We found that the alignment between the drive motor and the alternator
needs to be improved. This adjustment is a relatively simple one day job
that does not require disassembly of the alternator housing.
Work on the diagnostic neutral beam by University of Texas FRC
personnel continues. Disassembly and packing of several of the beam
power systems was begun. Approximately half of the support units
(power supplies and power conditioning units) were removed to a staging
area to await pick-up for shipment to Cambridge. FRC scientists also
completed a reference design for the BES system. MIT engineers will be
returning to Texas next month to help get the remaining components,
including the beamline, ready to ship.
PPPL scientists working with MIT personnel successfully completed
stray light tests and a Raman calibration of the edge Thomson scattering
system. The stray light level was very low and indicates that the beam
dump is performing properly. Data from the Raman calibration is still
being analyzed.
The Experimental Program Committee considered nine new Mini-Proposals
for experimental time during the upcoming campaign. Additional new and revised
Mini-Proposals will be considered at this week's EPC meeting.
G. Cima of the University of Texas FRC visited C-Mod to continue
preparation for installation of the temperature fluctuation diagnostic.
Steve Wolfe was in Austin, TX at the Program Committee Meeting
for the upcoming APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting. Earl Marmar
attended a Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) meeting
in Gaithersburg.