Long Pulse Operation on Tore‐Supra: Towards Steady State

The experimental programme of Tore Supra is devoted to the study of technology and physics issues associated to long‐duration high performance discharges. This new domain of operation requires simultaneously and in steady state: heat removal capability, particle exhaust, fully non‐inductive current drive, advanced technology integration and real time plasma control. The long discharge allows for addressing new time scale physic such as the wall particle retention and erosion. Moreover, the physics of fully non‐inductive discharges is full of novelty, namely: the MHD stability, the slow spontaneous oscillation of the central electron temperature or the outstanding inward particle pinch.