Accommodating a significant increase in experimental data per shot on the TFTR central computing system

The recent change in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) program schedule has introduced a postponement of tritium operation for at least three years (currently scheduled for 1993). In the interim, TFTR research will place greater emphasis on understanding the physics of transport in tokamaks. This increased emphasis will result in the addition of more diagnostics and upgrades to existing diagnostics, significantly increasing the amount of data acquired for each TFTR experimental pulse. As the total data per shot increases, providing adequate facilities for acquiring, storing, analyzing, and archiving data will be a continual challenge. An overview of the functions of the TFTR central computing system is presented, and the areas which will need to be addressed to provide support for the larger data loads are identified