The results of the first year of operation of the experiment RFX are reported. Profiles of electron density, electron and ion temperature and impurity emission have been measured at plasma current I<0.7 MA. The energy confinement parameters at different density are reported, the best values ( tau E approximately 1ms, beta theta approximately 8%) being obtained operating at higher density. The role of the impurity content in determining the present performance of the experiment is discussed.