Design and initial operation of the Madison Symmetric Torus

Summary Form only given, as follows. A detailed description is given of the design of the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) which is a versatile, reversed-field pinch (RFP) that began operation in June 1988. MST is designed to operate anywhere in the region from tokamak to RFP. Initial operation has been as an RFP and has more than met design expectations. The device has consistently produced 500-kA, 34-ms discharges.<>