Type-I edge-localized modes (ELMs) have been mitigated at the JET tokamak using a static external n=1 perturbation field generated by four error field correction coils located far from the plasma. During the application of the n=1 field the ELM frequency increased by a factor of 4 and the amplitude of the D(alpha) signal decreased. The energy loss per ELM normalized to the total stored energy, DeltaW/W, dropped to values below 2%. Transport analyses shows no or only a moderate (up to 20%) degradation of energy confinement time during the ELM mitigation phase.

New experiments in 2013-2014 have investigated the physics responsible for the decrease in H-mode pedestal confinement observed in the initial phase of JET-ILW operation (2012 Experimental Campaigns). The effects of plasma triangularity, global beta and neutrals-both D and low-Z impurities-on pedestal confinement and stability have been investigated systematically. The stability of JET-ILW pedestals is analysed in the framework of the Peeling-Ballooning model and the pedestal predictive code EPED. Low D neutrals content in the plasma, achieved either by low D 2 gas injection rates or by divertor configurations with optimum pumping, and high beta are necessary conditions for good pedestal (and core) performance. In such conditions the pedestal stability is consistent with the Peeling-Ballooning paradigm. Moderate to high D 2 gas rates, required for W control and stable H-mode operation with the ILW, lead to increased D neutrals content in the plasma and additional physics in the pedestal models may be required to explain the onset of the ELM instability. The physics mechanism leading to the beneficial increase in pedestal temperature with N 2 seeding in high triangularity JET-ILW H-modes is not yet understood. The changes in H-mode performance associated with the change in JET wall composition from C to Be/W point to D neutrals and low-Z impurities playing a role in pedestal stability, elements which are not currently included in pedestal models. These aspects need to be addressed in order to progress towards full predictive capability of the pedestal height.

A comparison of the L–H power threshold (Pthr) in JET with all carbon, JET-C, and beryllium/tungsten wall (the ITER-like choice), JET-ILW, has been carried out in experiments with slow input power ramps and matched plasma shapes, divertor configuration and IP/BT pairs. The low density dependence of the L–H power threshold, namely an increase below a minimum density ne,min, which was first observed in JET with the MkII-GB divertor and C wall and subsequently not observed with the current MkII-HD geometry, is observed again with JET-ILW. At plasma densities above ne,min, Pthr is reduced by ∼30%, and by ∼40% when the radiation from the bulk plasma is subtracted (Psep), with JET-ILW compared to JET-C. At the L–H transition the electron temperature at the edge, where the pedestal later develops, is also lower with JET-ILW, for a given edge density. With JET-ILW the minimum density is found to increase roughly linearly with magnetic field, , while the power threshold at the minimum density scales as . The H-mode power threshold in JET-ILW is found to be sensitive both to variations in main plasma shape (Psep decreases with increasing lower triangularity and increases with upper triangularity) and in divertor configuration. When the data are recast in terms of Psep and Zeff or subdivertor neutral pressure a linear correlation is found, pointing to a possible role of Zeff and/or subdivertor neutral pressure in the L–H transition physics. Depending on the chosen divertor configuration, Pthr can be up to a factor of two lower than the ITPA scaling law for densities above ne,min. A shallow edge radial electric field well is observed at the L–H transition. The edge impurity ion poloidal velocity remains low, close to its L-mode values, ⩽5 km s−1 ± 2–3 km s−1, at the L–H transition and throughout the H-mode phase, with no measureable increase within the experimental uncertainties. The edge toroidal rotation profile does not contribute to the depth of the negative Er well and thus may not be correlated with the formation of the edge transport barrier in JET.

This paper presents the experimental characterization of pedestal parameters, edge localized mode (ELM) energy, and particle losses from the main plasma and the corresponding ELM energy fluxes on plasma facing components for a series of dedicated experiments in the Joint European Torus (JET). From these experiments, it is demonstrated that the simple hypothesis relating the peeling-ballooning linear instability to ELM energy losses is not valid. Contrary to previous observations at lower triangularities, small energy losses at low collisionality have been obtained in regimes at high plasma triangularity and q95∼4.5, indicating that the edge plasma magnetohydrodynamic stability is linked with the transport mechanisms that lead to the loss of energy by conduction during type I ELMs. Measurements of the ELM energy fluxes on the divertor target show that their time scale is linked to the ion transport along the field and the formation of a high energy sheath, in agreement with kinetic modeling of ELMs. Higher density ELMs, of a convective nature, lead to overall much longer time scales for the ELM energy flux, with more than 80% of the ELM energy flux arriving after the surface divertor temperature has reached its maximum value. On the contrary, for low density ELMs, of a conductive nature, up to 40% of the energy flux arrives at the divertor target before the surface divertor temperature has reached its maximum value. These large and more conductive ELMs may lead to up to ∼50% of the ELM energy reaching the main wall plasma facing components instead of the divertor target. The extrapolation to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor of the obtained results is described and the main uncertainties discussed.

Type I ELMy H-mode operation in JET with the ITER-like Be/W wall (JET-ILW) generally occurs at lower pedestal pressures compared to those with the full carbon wall (JET-C). The pedestal density is similar but the pedestal temperature where type I ELMs occur is reduced and below to the so-called critical type I–type III transition temperature reported in JET-C experiments. Furthermore, the confinement factor H98(y,2) in type I ELMy H-mode baseline plasmas is generally lower in JET-ILW compared to JET-C at low power fractions Ploss/Pthr,08 < 2 (where Ploss is (Pin − dW/dt), and Pthr,08 the L–H power threshold from Martin et al 2008 (J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 123 012033)). Higher power fractions have thus far not been achieved in the baseline plasmas. At Ploss/Pthr,08 > 2, the confinement in JET-ILW hybrid plasmas is similar to that in JET-C. A reduction in pedestal pressure is the main reason for the reduced confinement in JET-ILW baseline ELMy H-mode plasmas where typically H98(y,2) = 0.8 is obtained, compared to H98(y,2) = 1.0 in JET-C. In JET-ILW hybrid plasmas a similarly reduced pedestal pressure is compensated by an increased peaking of the core pressure profile resulting in H98(y,2) ⩽ 1.25. The pedestal stability has significantly changed in high triangularity baseline plasmas where the confinement loss is also most apparent. Applying the same stability analysis for JET-C and JET-ILW, the measured pedestal in JET-ILW is stable with respect to the calculated peeling–ballooning stability limit and the ELM collapse time has increased to 2 ms from typically 200 µs in JET-C. This indicates that changes in the pedestal stability may have contributed to the reduced pedestal confinement in JET-ILW plasmas. A comparison of EPED1 pedestal pressure prediction with JET-ILW experimental data in over 500 JET-C and JET-ILW baseline and hybrid plasmas shows a good agreement with 0.8 < (measured pped)/(predicted pped,EPED) < 1.2, but that the role of triangularity is generally weaker in the JET-ILW experimental data than in the model predictions.