High fusion power experiments using DT mixtures in ELM-free H mode and optimized shear regimes in JET are reported. A fusion power of 16.1 MW has been produced in an ELM-free H mode at 4.2 MA/3.6 T. The transient value of the fusion amplification factor was 0.95±0.17, consistent with the high value of nDT(0)τEdiaTi(0) = 8.7 × 1020±20% m-3 s keV, and was maintained for about half an energy confinement time until excessive edge pressure gradients resulted in discharge termination by MHD instabilities. The ratio of DD to DT fusion powers (from separate but otherwise similar discharges) showed the expected factor of 210, validating DD projections of DT performance for similar pressure profiles and good plasma mixture control, which was achieved by loading the vessel walls with the appropriate DT mix. Magnetic fluctuation spectra showed no evidence of Alfvénic instabilities driven by alpha particles, in agreement with theoretical model calculations. Alpha particle heating has been unambiguously observed, its effect being separated successfully from possible isotope effects on energy confinement by varying the tritium concentration in otherwise similar discharges. The scan showed that there was no, or at most a very weak, isotope effect on the energy confinement time. The highest electron temperature was clearly correlated with the maximum alpha particle heating power and the optimum DT mixture; the maximum increase was 1.3±0.23 keV with 1.3 MW of alpha particle heating power, consistent with classical expectations for alpha particle confinement and heating. In the optimized shear regime, clear internal transport barriers were established for the first time in DT, with a power similar to that required in DD. The ion thermal conductivity in the plasma core approached neoclassical levels. Real time power control maintained the plasma core close to limits set by pressure gradient driven MHD instabilities, allowing 8.2 MW of DT fusion power with nDT(0)τEdiaTi(0) ≈ 1021 m-3 s keV, even though full optimization was not possible within the imposed neutron budget. In addition, quasi-steady-state discharges with simultaneous internal and edge transport barriers have been produced with high confinement and a fusion power of up to 7 MW; these double barrier discharges show a great potential for steady state operation. © 1999, Euratom

ABSTRACT.Reactor relevant ICRH scenarios have been assessed during D-T experiments on the JET tokamak using H-mode divertor discharges with ITER-like shapes and safety factors. Deuterium minority heating in tritium plasmas was demonstrated for the first time. For 9% deuterium, an ICRH power of 6 MW gave 1.66 MW of fusion power from reactions between suprathermal deuterons and thermal tritons. The Q-value of the steady state discharge reached 0.22 for the length of the RF flat top (2.7 s), corresponding to three plasma energy replacement times. The Doppler broadened neutron spectrum showed a deuteron energy of 125 keV which was optimum for fusion and close to the critical energy. Thus strong bulk ion heating was obtained at the same time as high fusion efficiency. Deuterium fractions around 20% produced the strongest ion heating together with a strong reduction of the suprathermal deuteron tail. The edge localised modes (ELMs) had low amplitude and high frequency and each ELM transported less plasma energy content

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An experiment has been performed at the Joint European Torus (JET) which has demonstratedclear self-heating of a deuterium-tritium plasma by alpha particles produced in fusion reactions. Since the alpha power was approximately 10% of the total power absorbed by the plasma, the heating was distinguished from other changes, due to isotopic effects, by scanning the plasma and neutral beam mixtures together from pure D to nearly pure T in a hot ion H-mode with 10.5MW neutral beam power. At an optimum mixture of 60±20% T, the fusion gain (=P fusion / P absorbed ) was 0.65 and the alpha heating showed clearly as a maximum in electron temperature.

During auxiliary heating experiments in JET, periodic bursts of MHD oscillations resembling ‘fishbones’ have been observed in the signals of several diagnostics. The bursts have repetition times of 10–40 ms and oscillation frequencies ranging from 1 kHz to more than 20 kHz. While the amplitude of these oscillations increases at high poloidal and toroidal beta, they are also observed in plasmas with modest values of beta. Moreover, they occur in discharges with either neutral beam injection or ion cyclotron resonance heating, which is consistent with the idea that they are due to an instability driven by energetic ions. However, there is little evidence in JET that the bursts have a significant impact on fast ion containment or energy confinement. The paper describes the characteristics of the bursts and gives an analysis of the regimes over which they occur. In addition, the evidence for the interaction of the oscillations with high energy particles is considered and discussed in the light of theoretical models of the instability which is believed to be responsible for the bursts.

Ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) experiments have been carried out in JET D-T plasmas using scenarios applicable to reactors. Deuterium minority heating in tritium plasmas is used for the first time and produces 1.66 MW of D-T fusion power for an ICRH power of 6 MW. The Q value is 0.22, which is a record for steady state discharges. Fundamental He 3 minority ICRH, in both 50:50 D-T and tritium dominated plasmas, generates strong bulk ion heating and ion temperatures up to 13 keV. Second harmonic tritium ICRH is seen to heat mainly the electrons as expected for JET conditions. All three schemes produce H-mode plasmas. [S0031-9007(98)06143-2] PACS numbers: 52.50. Gj, 52.55.Fa, 52.55.Pi Ion cyclotron resonance heating is the only method of heating majority ions, rather than electrons, in the dense core of a tokamak reactor. Radiofrequency (rf) power is used to excite a fast magnetosonic wave, to which the high density plasma is accessible. The wave is absorbed at a cyclotron resonance which is positioned in major radius (usually the plasma center) by the choice of magnetic field and rf frequency. The ions damping the wave are often accelerated to suprathermal energies, especially if they are a minority species. This energy is then transferred to the thermal ions and electrons by Coulomb collisions. If the energy of the absorbing ions is less than a critical value, power flows mainly to the thermal ions rather than to the electrons. The critical energy at which the power to the electrons equals that to the ions is given [1] by E crit 14.8AT e ͓Sn j Z 2 j ͞n e A j ͔ 2͞3 where A is the atomic mass of the energetic ions, n e is the electron density, Z is the atomic number, the sum is over the thermal ion species, and T e is the electron temperature. For fast deuterons in a tritium plasma, E crit 14.2T e . In the JET D-minority experiments, T e is about 7 keV and E crit ഠ 100 keV, which is also the deuteron energy at which the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion cross section peaks. High fusion power is thus achieved at the same time as equal ion and electron heating.Several ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) schemes in D-T plasmas have been included in the design of the JET system [2] which thus covers a wide frequency band, 23-57 MHz. The same schemes are being considered for the ITER reactor [3]. Three of these scenarios are minority deuterium and minority He 3 at their fundamental resonances and majority tritium at its second harmonic resonance. Recent calculations [4,5] for ITER predict that each method can produce more than 50% ion heating on the route to ignition. The present experiments have demonstrated and assessed the fundamental deuterium scheme, which has never been used previously. Also, the physics and performance of all three methods have been studied for the first time in H mode, D-T plasmas heated predominantly by ICRH. The plasmas were similar to those expected in ITER in terms of shape, safety factor ͑q͒, normalized confinement time, and the behavior of edge localized modes (ELMs), which affec...

The perpendicular x-ray emission up a to few MeV of runaway electrons has been measured in JET low-density ohmic discharges by means of the fast electron bremsstrahlung profile monitor. A diffusion model simulating the temporal evolution of the line-integrated xray signals is used to determine the runaway radial transport coefficient in the central region of the plasma (D r 0.2 m 2 s −1 for r/a < 0.5); a comparison is made with the predictions of magnetic and electrostatic turbulent transport theories and limits on the level of radial magnetic field fluctuations are found.

The dependence of plasma energy confinement on minor radius, density and plasma current is described for Ohmically heated near-circular plasmas in Doublet III. A wide range of parameters is used for the study of scaling laws; the plasma minor radius defined by the flux surface in contact with limiter is varied by a factor of 2 (a = 44, 32 and 23 cm) , the line average plasma density, n̄e, is varied by a factor of 20 from 0.5 to 10 × 1013 cm−3 (n̄e R0/BT = 0.3 to 6 × 1014 cm−2·kG−1) and the plasma current, I, is varied by a factor of 6 from 120 to 718 kA. The range of the limiter safety factor, qL, is from 2 to 12. – For plasmas with a = 23 and 32 cm, the scaling law at low n̄e for the gross electron energy confinement time can be written as (s, cm) where qc = 2πa2BT/μ0IR0. For the 44-cm plasmas, is about 1.8 times less than predicted by this scaling, possibly owing to the change in limiter configuration and small plasma-wall separation and/or the aspect ratio change. At high n̄e, saturates and in many cases decreases with n̄e but increases with I in a classical-like manner. The dependence of on a is considerably weakened. The confinement behaviour can be explained by taking an ion thermal conductivity 2 to 7 times that given by Hinton-Hazeltine's neoclassical theory with a lumped-Zeff impurity model. Within this range the enhancement factor increases with a or a/R0. The electron thermal conductivity evaluated at half-temperature radius where most of the thermal insulation occurs sharply increases with average current density within that radius, but does not depend on a within the uncertainties of the measurements.