Vertically stabilized elongated cross-section tokamak

In the method of confining and stabilizing a plasma current carrying toroidal plasma column in a tokamak having toroidal and poloidal coil means for producing toroidal magnetic surfaces along an equilibrium axis around an axis of rotation, the improvement comprising the steps of:

• a. producing a toroidal plasma column in concentric, circular cross-section, toroidal magnetic surfaces having a poloidal separatrix along an equilibrium axis and plasma particles that diffuse outwardly away from the equilibrium axis toward the sepatrix;
• and
• b. imposing on the outside of the toroidal plasma column a magnetic field having spaced apart non-helical poloidal currents that are co-axial with the equilibrium axis for effecting the changing of the outer magnetic surface into an elongated, cross-section having an external separatrix forming a D-shaped poloidal divertor cross-section to bend the plasma particles away from the equilibrium axis and into the poloidal divertor in accordance with their diffusion away from the equilibrium axis toward the separatrix.