Editing Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (section)

{{Short description|Former experimental tokamak at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory}}
{{Infobox fusion devices
|name                 = TFTR
|fullname             = Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor
|image                = TFTR_1989.jpg
|imagetitle           = TFTR in 1989
|type                 = [[Tokamak]]
|city                 = [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]]
|state                = [[New Jersey]]
|country              = [[United States|US]]
|coordinates          = <!-- {{coord|latitude|longitude|type:city|display=inline,title}} -->
|affiliation          = [[Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory]]
|major_radius         = {{cvt|2.52|m}}
|minor_radius         = {{cvt|0.87|m}}
|volume               = <!-- {{val|00|ul=m3}} -->
|field                = {{cvt|6.0|T}} (toroidal)
|heating              = {{val|51|ul=MW}}
|power                = <!-- {{val|00|ul=MW}} -->
|time                 = <!-- {{val|00|ul=s}} -->
|current              = {{val|3|ul=MA}}
|temperature          = <!-- {{val|00|e=6|ul=K}} -->
|construction_date    = 
|operation_start_year = 1982
|operation_end_year   = 1997
|ongoing              = <!-- set to any non-blank value -->
|prev                 = [[Princeton Large Torus]] (PLT)
|next                 = [[National Spherical Torus Experiment]] (NSTX)
|related              = [[JT-60]]
|website              = <!-- {{url|insert here}} -->
|other_links          = 
}}
The '''Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor''' ('''TFTR''') was an experimental [[tokamak]] built at [[Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory]] (PPPL) circa 1980 and entering service in 1982. TFTR was designed with the explicit goal of reaching scientific [[Fusion energy gain factor|breakeven]], the point where the heat being released from the [[fusion reaction]]s in the [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] is equal or greater than the heating being supplied to the plasma by external devices to warm it up.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Results and Plans for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor |first=Dale |last=Meade |journal=Journal of Fusion Energy |volume = 7|issue=2–3 |date= September 1988 |page=107|doi = 10.1007/BF01054629|bibcode=1988JFuE....7..107M |s2cid=120135196 }}</ref><ref name=princeton/>

The TFTR never achieved this goal, but it did produce major advances in confinement time and energy density. It was the world's first magnetic fusion device to perform extensive scientific experiments with plasmas composed of 50/50 deuterium/tritium (D-T), the fuel mix required for practical fusion power production, and also the first to produce more than 10 MW of fusion power. It set several records for power output, maximum temperature, and [[fusion triple product]].

TFTR shut down in 1997 after fifteen years of operation. PPPL used the knowledge from TFTR to begin studying another approach, the [[spherical tokamak]], in their [[National Spherical Torus Experiment]]. The Japanese [[JT-60]] is very similar to the TFTR, both tracing their design to key innovations introduced by [[Shoichi Yoshikawa]] (1934-2010)<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://nstx.pppl.gov/DragNDrop/NSTX_Meetings/Team_Meetings/2011/2011_10_19/Condolences%20for%20Prof%20Shoichi%20Yoshikawa.pdf |title=A Celebration of the Life and Work of Shoichi Yoshikawa, April 9, 1934–November 4, 2010 |publisher=NSTX-U}}</ref> during his time at PPPL in the 1970s.