Physics of spherical tokamaks

Spherical tokamaks are a limiting case of conventional tokamaks, combining simple design with attractive physical characteristics. Being of potential importance for the controlled nuclear fusion program in their own right, spherical tokamaks also contribute much to our understanding of the physics of conventional tokamaks. For instance, they are contributing to the modeling of confinement scalings for ITER and to research on general plasma properties such as energy confinement and MHD processes. Results obtained for the first generation of spherical prototype tokamaks are reviewed and the main trends for further research are indicated. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 50–57 (September 1999)