STATUS AND FUTURE OF THE TRITIUM PLASMA-EXPERIMENT

The Tritium Plasma Experiment (TPE) has been recently upgraded and relocated at the Tritium System Test Assembly (TSTA) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The first tritium plasma in the upgraded system was achieved on May 11, 1995. TPE is a unique facility devoted to experiments on the migration and retention of tritium in fusion reactor materials. This facility is now capable of delivering 100 to 200 eV tritons at a level of 1 A/cm(2) to a 5 mm diameter sample, similar to that expected for the divertor of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor(ITER). An aggressive research plan has been established, and experiments are expected to begin in June of 1995.