Development of a mirror-based endoscope for divertor spectroscopy on JET with the new ITER-like wall (invited).

A new endoscope with optimised divertor view has been developed in order to survey and monitor the emission of specific impurities such as tungsten and the remaining carbon as well as beryllium in the tungsten divertor of JET after the implementation of the ITER-like wall in 2011. The endoscope is a prototype for testing an ITER relevant design concept based on reflective optics only. It may be subject to high neutron fluxes as expected in ITER. The operating wavelength range, from 390 nm to 2500 nm, allows the measurements of the emission of all expected impurities (W I, Be II, C I, C II, C III) with high optical transmittance (≥ 30% in the designed wavelength range) as well as high spatial resolution that is ≤ 2 mm at the object plane and ≤ 3 mm for the full depth of field (± 0.7 m). The new optical design includes options for in situ calibration of the endoscope transmittance during the experimental campaign, which allows the continuous tracing of possible transmittance degradation with time due to impurity deposition and erosion by fast neutral particles. In parallel to the new optical design, a new type of possibly ITER relevant shutter system based on pneumatic techniques has been developed and integrated into the endoscope head. The endoscope is equipped with four digital CCD cameras, each combined with two filter wheels for narrow band interference and neutral density filters. Additionally, two protection cameras in the λ > 0.95 µm range have been integrated in the optical design for the real time wall protection during the plasma operation of JET.

Supersonic helium beam diagnostic for fluctuation measurements of electron temperature and density at the Tokamak TEXTOR.

A supersonic helium beam diagnostic, based on the line-ratio technique for high resolution electron density and temperature measurements in the plasma edge (r/a > 0.9) was designed, built, and optimised at TEXTOR (Torus Experiment for Technology Oriented Research). The supersonic injection system, based on the Campargue skimmer-nozzle concept, was developed and optimised in order to provide both a high neutral helium beam density of n(0) = 1.5 × 10(18) m(-3) and a low beam divergence of ±1° simultaneously, achieving a poloidal resolution of Δ(poloidal) = 9 mm. The setup utilises a newly developed dead volume free piezo valve for operation in a high magnetic field environment of up to 2 T with a maximum repetition rate of 80 Hz. Gas injections are realised for a duration of 120 ms at a repetition rate of 2 Hz (duty cycle 1/3). In combination with a high sensitivity detection system, consisting of three 32 multi-channel photomultipliers (PMTs), measurements of edge electron temperature and density with a radial resolution of Δ(radial) = 2 mm and a maximum temporal resolution of Δt ≃ 2 µs (470 kHz) are possible for the first time. The diagnostic setup at TEXTOR is presented. The newly developed injection system and its theoretical bases are discussed. The applicability of the stationary collisional-radiative model as basis of the line-ratio technique is shown. Finally, an example of a fluctuation analysis demonstrating the unique high temporal and spatial resolution capabilities of this new diagnostic is presented.

Resonant pedestal pressure reduction induced by a thermal transport enhancement due to stochastic magnetic boundary layers in high temperature plasmas.

Good alignment of the magnetic field line pitch angle with the mode structure of an external resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field is shown to induce modulation of the pedestal electron pressure p(e) in high confinement high rotation plasmas at the DIII-D tokamak with a shape similar to ITER, the next step tokamak experiment. This is caused by an edge safety factor q95 resonant enhancement of the thermal transport, while in contrast, the RMP induced particle pump out does not show a significant resonance. The measured p(e) reduction correlates to an increase in the modeled stochastic layer width during pitch angle variations matching results from resistive low rotation plasmas at the TEXTOR tokamak. These findings suggest a field line pitch angle resonant formation of a stochastic magnetic edge layer as an explanation for the q95 resonant character of type-I edge localized mode suppression by RMPs.

Plasma-surface interaction in the context of ITER.

The decreasing availability of energy and concern about climate change necessitate the development of novel sustainable energy sources. Fusion energy is such a source. Although it will take several decades to develop it into routinely operated power sources, the ultimate potential of fusion energy is very high and badly needed. A major step forward in the development of fusion energy is the decision to construct the experimental test reactor ITER. ITER will stimulate research in many areas of science. This article serves as an introduction to some of those areas. In particular, we discuss research opportunities in the context of plasma-surface interactions. The fusion plasma, with a typical temperature of 10 keV, has to be brought into contact with a physical wall in order to remove the helium produced and drain the excess energy in the fusion plasma. The fusion plasma is far too hot to be brought into direct contact with a physical wall. It would degrade the wall and the debris from the wall would extinguish the plasma. Therefore, schemes are developed to cool down the plasma locally before it impacts on a physical surface. The resulting plasma-surface interaction in ITER is facing several challenges including surface erosion, material redeposition and tritium retention. In this article we introduce how the plasma-surface interaction relevant for ITER can be studied in small scale experiments. The various requirements for such experiments are introduced and examples of present and future experiments will be given. The emphasis in this article will be on the experimental studies of plasma-surface interactions.

Change of the magnetic-field topology by an ergodic divertor and the effect on the plasma structure and transport.

The magnetic-field perturbation produced by the dynamic ergodic divertor in TEXTOR changes the topology of the magnetic field in the plasma edge, creating an open chaotic system. The perturbation spectrum contains only a few dominant harmonics and therefore it can be described by an analytical model. The modeling is performed in the vacuum approximation without assuming a backreaction of the plasma and does not rely on any experimentally obtained parameters. It is shown that this vacuum approximation predicts in many details the experimentally observed plasma structure. Several experiments have been performed to prove that the plasma edge behavior is defined mostly by the magnetic topology of the perturbed volume. The change in the transport can be explained with the knowledge of only the magnetic structures; i.e., the ergodic pattern dominates the plasma properties.

Quasistationary high confinement discharges with trans-greenwald density on TEXTOR-94

Confinement quality as good as ELM-free H-mode at densities substantially above the Greenwald density limit ( &nmacr;(e,0)/n(GW) = 1.4) has been obtained in discharges with a radiative boundary under quasistationary conditions for 20 times the energy confinement time. This is achieved by optimizing the gas-fueling rate of RI-mode discharges which tailors their favorable energy confinement and leads to discharges with beta values just below the operational limit beta(n) = 2 of TEXTOR-94, thereby effectively avoiding confinement back transitions or disruptions. In addition, this high-density regime is favorable for helium removal and results in figures of merit tau(*)(p,He)/tau(E) approximately 10-15, relevant for a future fusion power reactor.