From: IRBY@CMOD.PFC.MIT.EDU
Subject: Alcator C-MOD Weekly Highlights
Newsgroups: sci.physics.plasma
Organization: M.I.T.


Alcator C-MOD Weekly Highlights
February 11, 1997


Reassembly continued this week on Alcator C-Mod. The lower TF
arms are now installed and preparations are being made to move the
vessel from the assembly stand back to the lower dome in the center
of the cell. Another set of hi-pot, continuity, ground fault, and
resistance checks of coils, coaxes, heaters, thermocouples, and OH
diagnostics has been successfully completed. As soon as the machine
is back in position on the lower dome, we can resume invessel work.
We continue to make progress on the design of the DNB
accelerator power supply and modulator/regulator. Designs for the
new crowbar system required to protect the DNB beamline are also being
developed. We have installed temporary power to the variac control
cabinet for low power testing of DNB supplies. Many improvements have been
made to the magnet power systems over the last few months, so a very careful
and detailed checkout of all the supplies will be required. This process
began this week with work concentrating on the EF4 supply. Work on the
new transmitters continues. Layout of the coax runs is complete and
coax components are being fabricated at PPPL. The first of four new crowbar
trigger units for the new transmitters is complete. RF tuner and phase
shifter PLC interface wiring has been finished. Reconditioning of the dummy
loads for transmitters 1 and 2 is complete.
A great deal of work has now been completed on new invessel
components. New diode arrays and telescopes for making high spatial
resolution measurements of the plasma edge have been fabricated. The
new shutter for protecting the tangential interferometer mirror has
undergone an extensive cycle test successfully and is now being prepared
for installation invessel. The capillary needed to supply gas to the
new scanning gas probe has also undergone an initial cycle test of
acceptable duration, but will be improved somewhat and tested again.
A meeting of our Program Advisory Committee was held last
Thursday and Friday at MIT. The committee consisted of Stewart Prager
(chairman, U. of Wisc), Joel Hosea (PPPL), Dave Hill (GA), Karl Lackner
(Garching), Ben Carreras (ORNL), Richard Hazeline (U. Texas), Ted Straight
(GA), and Douglass Post (PPPL). Rostom Dagazian represented DOE.
Ken Young (PPPL) and Tom Simonen (GA) attended as observers.
Talks on physics results and plans were given by both MIT staff and
some of our collaborators; Bill Rowan and Ron Bravenec (U Texas), Randy
Wilson and Cynthia Phillips (PPPL).
DOE has requested that we write quarterly reports rather than
the monthly ones we have produced for the last few years. These quarterly
reports are posted on the web at

http://cmod2.pfc.mit.edu/cmod/quarterly-reports/quarterly-reports.html