We present an ultrafast neural network (NN) model, QLKNN, which predicts core tokamak transport heat and particle fluxes. QLKNN is a surrogate model based on a database of 300 million flux calculations of the quasilinear gyrokinetic transport model QuaLiKiz. The database covers a wide range of realistic tokamak core parameters. Physical features such as the existence of a critical gradient for the onset of turbulent transport were integrated into the neural network training methodology. We have coupled QLKNN to the tokamak modelling framework JINTRAC and rapid control-oriented tokamak transport solver RAPTOR. The coupled frameworks are demonstrated and validated through application to three JET shots covering a representative spread of H-mode operating space, predicting turbulent transport of energy and particles in the plasma core. JINTRAC-QLKNN and RAPTOR-QLKNN are able to accurately reproduce JINTRAC-QuaLiKiz T i,e and n e profiles, but 3 to 5 orders of magnitude faster. Simulations which take hours are reduced down to only a few tens of seconds. The discrepancy in the final source-driven predicted profiles between QLKNN and QuaLiKiz is on the order 1%-15%. Also the dynamic behaviour was well captured by QLKNN, with differences of only 4%-10% compared to JINTRAC-QuaLiKiz observed at mid-radius, for a study of density buildup following the L-H transition. Deployment of neural network surrogate models in multi-physics integrated tokamak modelling is a promising route towards enabling accurate and fast tokamak scenario optimization, Uncertainty Quantification, and control applications.

The JET 2019-2020 scientific and technological programme exploited the results of years of concerted scientific and engineering work, including the ITER-like wall (ILW: Be wall and W divertor) installed in 2010, improved diagnostic capabilities now fully available, a major Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) upgrade providing record power in 2019-2020, and tested the technical & procedural preparation for safe operation with tritium. Research along three complementary axes yielded a wealth of new results. Firstly, the JET plasma programme delivered scenarios suitable for high fusion power and alpha particle physics in the coming D-T campaign (DTE2), with record sustained neutron rates, as well as plasmas for clarifying the impact of isotope mass on plasma core, edge and plasma-wall interactions, and for ITER pre-fusion power operation. The efficacy of the newly installed Shattered Pellet Injector for mitigating disruption forces and runaway electrons was demonstrated. Secondly, research on the consequences of long-term exposure to JET-ILW plasma was completed, with emphasis on wall damage and fuel retention, and with analyses of wall materials and dust particles that will help validate assumptions and codes for design & operation of ITER and DEMO. Thirdly, the nuclear technology programme aiming to deliver maximum technological return from operations in D, T and D-T benefited from the highest D-D neutron yield in years, securing results for validating radiation transport and activation codes, and nuclear data for ITER.

The next step in the Wendelstein stellarator line is the large superconducting device Wendelstein 7-X, currently under construction in Greifswald, Germany. Steady-state operation is an intrinsic feature of stellarators, and one key element of the Wendelstein 7-X mission is to demonstrate steady-state operation under plasma conditions relevant for a fusion power plant. Steady-state operation of a fusion device, on the one hand, requires the implementation of special technologies, giving rise to technical challenges during the design, fabrication and assembly of such a device. On the other hand, also the physics development of steady-state operation at high plasma performance poses a challenge and careful preparation. The electron cyclotron resonance heating system, diagnostics, experiment control and data acquisition are prepared for plasma operation lasting 30 min. This requires many new technological approaches for plasma heating and diagnostics as well as new concepts for experiment control and data acquisition.

Alpha particles with energies on the order of megaelectronvolts will be the main source of plasma heating in future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Instead of heating fuel ions, most of the energy of alpha particles is transferred to electrons in the plasma. Furthermore, alpha particles can also excite Alfvénic instabilities, which were previously considered to be detrimental to the performance of the fusion device. Here we report improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of megaelectronvolts ions and strong fast ion-driven Alfvénic instabilities in recent experiments on the Joint European Torus. Detailed transport analysis of these experiments reveals turbulence suppression through a complex multi-scale mechanism that generates large-scale zonal flows. This holds promise for more economical operation of fusion reactors with dominant alpha particle heating and ultimately cheaper fusion electricity.

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The ball-pen probe (BPP) technique is used successfully to make profile measurements of the electron temperature on the ASDEX Upgrade (Axially Symmetric Divertor Experiment), COMPASS (COMPact ASSembly), and ISTTOK (Instituto Superior Tecnico TOKamak) tokamak. The electron temperature is provided by a combination of the BPP potential (ΦBPP) and the floating potential (Vfl) of the Langmuir probe (LP), which is compared with the Thomson scattering diagnostic on ASDEX Upgrade and COMPASS. Excellent agreement between the two diagnostics is obtained for circular and diverted plasmas and different heating mechanisms (Ohmic, NBI, ECRH) in deuterium discharges with the same formula Te = (ΦBPP - Vfl)/2.2. The comparative measurements of the electron temperature using BPP/LP and triple probe (TP) techniques on the ISTTOK tokamak show good agreement of averaged values only inside the separatrix. It was also found that the TP provides the electron temperature with significantly higher standard deviation than BPP/LP. However, the resulting values of both techniques are well in the phase with the maximum of cross-correlation function being 0.8.

Since the installation of an ITER-like wall, the JET programme has focused on the consolidation of ITER design choices and the preparation for ITER operation, with a specific emphasis given to the bulk tungsten melt experiment, which has been crucial for the final decision on the material choice for the day-one tungsten divertor in ITER. Integrated scenarios have been progressed with the re-establishment of long-pulse, high-confinement H-modes by optimizing the magnetic configuration and the use of ICRH to avoid tungsten impurity accumulation. Stationary discharges with detached divertor conditions and small edge localized modes have been demonstrated by nitrogen seeding. The differences in confinement and pedestal behaviour before and after the ITER-like wall installation have been better characterized towards the development of high fusion yield scenarios in DT. Post-mortem analyses of the plasma-facing components have confirmed the previously reported low fuel retention obtained by gas balance and shown that the pattern of deposition within the divertor has changed significantly with respect to the JET carbon wall campaigns due to the absence of thermally activated chemical erosion of beryllium in contrast to carbon. Transport to remote areas is almost absent and two orders of magnitude less material is found in the divertor.

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